Winners of 2006

Click below for the Environment Award winners:

Biodiversity Protection Award
Efficiency Award
Community Partnership Award
Rail Crime Prevention Award 
Innovation Award
Individual Contribution Award
Team Contribution Award
Continuing Environmental Excellence Award

Winner – Birse Rail for Underbridge 39 at Sutton Park.

Birse Rail impressed the judges with their planning of a project which took pains to preserve the natural habitat for many species of flora and fauna in the park – for example, great effort went into protecting a watercourse that contained White Clawed Crayfish. They also built constructive relationships with all stakeholders, including the Environment Agency, English Heritage and, of course, the Sutton Park Manager. Ultimately, their attention to detail paid dividends as the project was delivered with no impact on the natural habitat of the area, with no environmental incidents nor any complaints from the general public.

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 Winner – Trackwork Ltd

Trackwork has demonstrated a great commitment to providing Network Rail with a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to the disposal of railway sleepers. The company specified and constructed a plant that burns sleepers which cannot be recycled, to generate enough energy to power their Doncaster site. Emissions from the plant are well below limits set by the Environment Agency, which also views the project as carbon neutral. Network Rail is delighted that Trackwork has presented them with such a comprehensive, green solution.

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Winner – The Chester – Shrewsbury Rail Partnership

This ongoing project has helped improve the presentation of Chirk station, making it a suitable gateway for visitors to a beautiful part of the country. Work has seen the installation of CCTV, in conjunction with the BTP and Arriva Trains Wales and the ongoing maintenance of the station has been achieved with the whole community pitching in and getting their hands dirty. This ranged from businesses, such as Cadbury Trebor Bassett, through to tourist attractions like Chirk Castle, as well as local brownies, guides, cubs and scouts.

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Winner – Southern Railways for their Crime and Disorder Reduction Task Force

In an effort to improve the environment for passengers on certain sections of their route, Southern Railways formed a team to provide a more visible presence on their trains and at certain stations. The team includes Southern’s own revenue protection officers, the British Transport Police and contract security officers. Based in Crawley, West Sussex, the team takes a proactive approach in tackling anti-social behaviour on the route, with the result that passengers feel safer when using trains as well as deterring potential troublemakers.

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Winner – Merseytravel for Liverpool South Parkway station

One of Merseytravel’s core beliefs is the provision of sustainable transport to promote regeneration, improved environment and accessibility across Merseyside and the wider region. This project encompasses all these elements at Liverpool South Parkway where £32m has been invested in building an environmentally friendly and sustainable station which will benefit the local and wider community long into the future.

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Winner – Craig O’Brien, Environmental Manager, nominated by May Gurney

Craig has been an Environmental Manager for May Gurney since 2003 – well, it’s more than his job, it’s his vocation. Described in his nomination as a “quintessential eco-warrior”, Craig consistently performs over and above the remit of his job, working with a wide variety of groups to achieve solutions that preserve and improve the environment. His zeal is spread throughout the organisation – one striking example is how he has got the buy-in from company directors to commit to the Carbon Neutral programme where May Gurney purchase and plant trees to offset its company car use.

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Winner – The Neville Hill Depot team from Maintrain

The judges were really impressed with how all employees at Neville Hill embraced the implementation of an environmental management system accredited under ISO. Not only has the team developed their own processes to minimise the impact of noise and fumes on the local community, but they have also developed recycling facilities on site as well as a strong relationship with Yorkshire Water to address waste management.

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Winner – FirstGroup

FirstGroup won this award for their continued contribution and commitment to both environmental and corporate responsibility issues. They have embedded strong environmental practices throughout their operations, which have shown significant dividends.

The last year has seen FirstGroup affect an 18% energy efficiency saving by appointing Energy Monitors at all depots, educating their workforce in how to minimise energy use and better auditing and maintenance of equipment. The company have also improved vehicle emissions through significant financial investment in their fleet. For example £3m has been invested in new trains on the Edinburgh to North Berwick route, £24m has been invested on a new fleet for Hull Trains and the entire TransPennine Express fleet will be replaced at a cost of £250m.

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