The London Underground depot at Stonebridge Park recently took delivery of their Nu-Star Power Pusher® unit for pushing & pulling bogies, railcars & wheel-sets within the maintenance workshop.
This is the eighth LU depot (including Transplant at Ruislip) to adopt the Power Pusher solution, which enables a single pedestrian operator to push and pull carriages and bogies into position safely. |
Brian Morgan and Mike Biss (both from Technical Capability, Infraco JNP) purchased the first Power Pusher to go into service at Cockfosters Depot and David Burleigh (Depot Plant Engineer from Infraco Sub-Surface) subsequently helped spread this new best-practice to several other depots.
Brian Morgan commented, "Historically the movement of bogies and vehicles in/around the maintenance area has been a difficult and labour intensive operation. The Power Pusher has uniquely solved this 30 year old problem within the London Underground network and I'm sure other depots will shortly follow suit".
During the product evaluation process, the Power Pusher has regularly been moving loads in excess of 50 tonnes. This feat is achieved by careful design of the attachment on the front of the unit, which couples to the railcar and helps the Power Pusher achieve the necessary traction (through weight transfer) to move the load.
Mike Ruffell (Engineering Support Manager, Oakwood Depot) confirmed, "The introduction of the Power Pusher has helped us improve both safety and productivity in our workshops".
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