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Exercise 2. Watch the video and fill in the gaps.

Gates: So, this stop on the factuality tour.

We know where coal comes from, and we know how they use it at a utility.

We want to find out more about how it’s transported from one place to the other. We are here in Omaha, Nebraska, the home of the Union Pacific Railroad, which was actually founded and thought of by Abraham Lincoln to start the transcontinental railroad right here in Omaha. So, we’re going to find out how technology has made the transportation of coal and railroads more efficient over the years.

Lenzen: This is the Harriman Dispatching Center, and we (1) …………, basically, our entire train operation from this (2) ………….

Gates: It looks like we’re on the set of a James Bond movie where they can control everything and not exactly what we expected to see when we thought about railroad technology. Explain to us what’s going on out here. There is technology as far as the eye can see here in the Harriman Center, and I don’t even know where to begin to look first.

Lenzen: The technology, as you can see on our dispatchers’ workstations. They have a graphical overview of their (3) ………… showing them all train and engine movements. They authorize those train and engine movements in their territory.

Gates: Technology and railroad have really come a long way. I mean, as evidenced out here. Lenzen: Very much so.

Gates: We’re in Omaha. So, what happens when the bad weather comes through and the power goes out? Does the place go dark? People just go home for the day and say, “Maybe, we’ll try again in the morning when the power comes on,” like they would do in other parts of the country?

Lenzen: No way. We’ve got continuous, uninterrupted (4) ………….. We’ve got two backup generators, we also have redundant power services from two different utilities.

Gates: The Harriman Center here opened in 1989. How many days off, how many times has it been closed since 1989 when you guys opened the doors here?

Lenzen: I’m not aware of a single closure day.

Gates: Never once have the doors been shut and people haven’t come into work?

Lenzen: Not to my knowledge. Gates: How many people are here? Lenzen: Right around 800.

Gates: 800. You said earlier that they work around the clock (5) …………. hours a day. So, if we came in here at 4:00 in the morning, what’s it going to look like?

Lenzen: It would look the same. Gates: It would look the same?

Lenzen: It would look the same. Very much so.

Gates: So, the trains don’t stop moving, and the people at the Harrison Center don’t stop moving them around regardless of (6) …………., (7) …………., anything?

Lenzen: That’s correct.

Gates: Amazing.

Exercise 3. Watch the video again and answer the following questions.

1)Where does the interview take place?

2)Who gives the interview?

3)What American railroad is this Center the home of?

4)What US president founded this transcontinental railroad?

5)What do dispatchers do?

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W r i t i n g

Exercise 1. Read the passage and ask 10 questions of different types to it.

NEW YEAR; NEW SIGNALLING; BETTER RAILWAY FOR EAST KENT

A two-year project to renew the 60-year old signalling along 62 miles of railway in East Kent will be completed over the Christmas and New Year period when the new system is switched on. This will allow capacity to be increased and reliability improved, resulting in better journeys for passengers.

By 3 January 2012, Network Rail will have installed 188 signals, 80 sets of points and a new level crossing on the routes from Sittingbourne to Minster via Ramsgate and Faversham to Buckland Junction (near Kearsney) via Canterbury East. The old system, which was installed in the 1950s and uses levers, bells and pullies to control signals and points, is being replaced with a modern computerised system and simplified track layout. This will give signallers more flexibility when control train movements.

The new signalling centre at Gillingham

The new signalling will be controlled from a new, state-of-the-art signalling centre in Gillingham. The signal boxes which are currently used at Faversham, Margate, Ramsgate,

Minster, Canterbury East and Shepherds Well will close. Dave Ward, Network Rail’s route managing director for Kent, said: “This is great news for passengers. The technology is more reliable, allows more trains to run and faster, and gives signallers more options when handling trains, improving people’s journeys. This £120m investment in the latest signalling technology brings the railway in east Kent into the 21st century and on a par with leading railways in Europe, Japan and the USA.”

The majority of new equipment has now been installed. Pre-testing is already underway and the full system will be switched across in phases over the Christmas / New Year period. This will result in some sections of the line being closed and a bus replacement service in operation.

A Southeastern spokesman added: “The new signalling system will help provide passengers with a more reliable service. We are working with Network Rail to ensure any disruption is kept to a minimum.”

http://www.europeanrailwayreview.com/11183/rail-industry-news/new-year-new-signalling-better-railway-for- east-kent/

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Exercise 2. What do you think an accident or hazard in an enterprise may follow? Discuss with a partner. Then read the passage below and check your predictions.

TECHNICAL MEASURES DOCUMENTS

§1. Essential safety measures are central to ensuring a safe and healthy environment in an enterprise and proper equipment operation and maintenance is vital for life, safety and health of its staff. There are a number of technical measures documents refer to the maintenance procedures that are necessary to mitigate a major accident or hazard. The following aspects should be considered with respect to maintenance procedures: human factors; poorly skilled work force; unconscious and conscious incompetence; good maintainability principles; knowledge of failure rate and maintainability; clear criteria for recognition of faults and marginal performance.

The following issues may contribute towards a major accident or hazard:

– failure of safety critical equipment due to lack of maintenance;

– human error during maintenance;

– static or spark discharge during maintenance in an intrinsically safe zone;

– incompetence of maintenance staff;

– poor communication between maintenance and production staff.

§2. Major hazards could arise from the following:

–the lack of control of spares such that incorrect materials or items outside specification (e.g. non-flameproof equipment) are used in replacement of plant items leading to increased risk of loss of containment, fire or explosion;

–failure to drain and/or isolate plant prior to dismantling causing release of flammable or toxic substances;

–maintenance being performed incompetently (particularly alarm/action set points on instruments incorrectly set, alignment of couplings on pumps and agitators causing overheating, motors running in wrong direction, safety features left disconnected/dismantled, gaskets left out, bolts torqued incorrectly or bolts missing, non-return valves orientation incorrect, pipework/flexibles incorrectly connected/installed, pipeline spades/orifice plates left in/removed, relief valve springs overtightened, bursting discs orientation incorrect/left out);

–scheduled maintenance not being undertaken as required or breakdown maintenance inadequate, leading to unrevealed failures of safety critical items;

–lack of knowledge by maintenance staff of the working environment where maintenance is being carried out (i.e. lack of risk assessments, warning signs, method statements, emergency procedures), leading to ignition of flammable substances (e.g. heat sources such as cigarettes or welding, static and electrical discharge, use of non spark-resistant tools) or injury/fatality from incorrect personal protective equipment (e.g. respirators) being worn;

–unauthorised staff performing maintenance functions;

–failure to re-commission plant correctly after maintenance to ensure that operations are not adversely affected in terms of safety considerations (e.g. contamination, flow rate changes, heat transfer rate changes, mass transfer rate changes).

There are normative publications that can be used as guidance material relating to maintenance procedures in different countries.

COMAH Competent Authority Assessment and Inspection Procedure.

Free version 1/April 2010

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5)It’s a place where hundreds of tons of fast moving steel can kill in a split second. Serge Meloche has seen too much of these.

6)Trains cannot stop quickly and cannot swerve to avoid people on the tracks, and railway cars that seem to be sitting quietly can suddenly start to move without warning.

7)Some people may think they cannot be beaten by oncoming train, but a locomotive that seems faraway down the tracks will be a partner within seconds.

8)Trains can come from any direction and any track and any time.

L a n gu a ge s p o t

P a s t te ns e s r e vi ew a n d I m pe r a ti ve

Exercise 1. When we describe an accident, we use past tenses. Look at the piece of Railroad Accident Report about fatal collision between a Super Voyager train and a car at Copmanthorpe. Find all past tense verbs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copmanthorpe_train_accident

Exercise 2. Write a list of recommendations for car drivers crossing the railway lines. Use Imperative forms of the verbs.

W r i t i n g

Exercise 1. Read the text below about railway safety and write answers to the following questions.

1) Why does the Safety Directive focus on only four major aspects of railway safety in European Union Member States? What are they?

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infrastructure managers, which are bodies or companies responsible, in particular for establishing, building and maintaining infrastructure or a part of it, and safety. In some Member States, however, safety may be delegated to railway undertakings.

Railway undertakings, which are public or private undertakings engaged in the supply of goods and/or passenger transport services by rail.

Safety certification

In order to be granted access to the railway infrastructure, a railway undertaking must hold a safety certificate. This safety certificate may cover the whole railway network of a Member State or only a defined part thereof.

The fact that national safety certificates differ is an obstacle to the development of the European railway system. The ultimate objective is to arrive at the introduction of a single Community certificate. In other words, if a railway undertaking obtains a safety certificate in a Member State, that certificate should be the subject of mutual recognition in another Member State.

The safety certificate should give evidence that the railway undertaking has established its safety management system and is able to comply with the requirements defined in the TSIs, with Community law and with the national safety rules. For international transport services it should be enough to approve the safety management system in one Member State and give the approval Community validity. Adherence to national laws on the other hands should be subject to additional certification in each Member State.

The safety certificate must be renewed upon application by the railway undertaking at intervals not exceeding five years. It must be wholly or partly updated whenever the type or extent of the operation is substantially altered.

A railway undertaking applying for authorisation to place rolling stock in service in another Member State will submit a technical file concerning the rolling stock or type of rolling stock to the relevant safety authority, indicating its intended use on the network.

In addition to the safety requirements laid down in the certificate, licensed railway undertakings must comply with national requirements, compatible with Community law and applied in a non-discriminatory manner, relating to health, safety and social conditions, including legal provisions relating to driving time, and the rights of workers and consumers.

An essential aspect of safety is the training and certification of staff, particularly of train drivers. The training covers operating rules, the signalling system, the knowledge of routes and emergency procedures.

Maintenance of vehicles

Before it is placed in service or used on the network, each vehicle is assigned a maintenance entity (which may be, in particular, a railway undertaking or an infrastructure manager). The entity ensures the working order of vehicles by introducing a system of maintenance in accordance with the vehicle’s maintenance book and the applicable safety requirements.

National safety authority

Each Member State must establish a safety authority which is independent from railway undertakings, infrastructure managers, applicants for certificates and procurement entities. It will respond promptly to requests and applications, communicate its requests for information without delay and adopt all its decisions within four months after all requested information has been provided.

The safety authority will carry out all inspections and investigations that are needed for the accomplishment of its tasks and be granted access to all relevant documents and to premises, installations and equipment of infrastructure managers and railway undertakings.

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