Greater Anglia has improved reliability at one of its depots by increasing operational flexibility and options during essential maintenance works.
Ilford depot is located in east London and is a critical facility for train maintenance and cleaning, which is carried out around the clock on the company’s commuter train fleet.
The large depot, which has a total of 23 lines outside for train movements and to stable trains between duties, and 16 lines inside a train shed for maintenance and cleaning, is also home to a carriage washing machine, through which the trains pass before they go into passenger service.
Before February 2025, if the carriage washing machine needed to be switched off for any reason, such as scheduled maintenance, the power supply to the rest of the depot’s sidings also needed to be turned off and no trains could move at all.
It meant that lots of planning had to take place to ensure the maintenance time did not cause unnecessary delays to scheduled train movements and unscheduled problems could have an adverse impact on train services.
A special switch has now been fitted, meaning the overhead power line on the piece of track on which the carriage washing machine is located can be isolated independently from the power supplies for the rest of the depot, when needed. Therefore, train movements around the rest of the depot can carry on as normal with no impact on passenger services.
Simone Bailey, asset management director at Greater Anglia, said: “This is a small but significant piece of work that means the resilience of our crucial Ilford depot is improved.
“It means the reliability, punctuality and cleanliness of our train services can remain high for our customers across the Greater Anglia network.”
Image credit: Greater Anglia
