New standards ahead: for rail industry

Citation

(2002), "New standards ahead: for rail industry", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 49 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2002.12849eab.012

New standards ahead: for rail industry

New standards ahead: for rail industryKeywords: Standards, Rail transport

A major advance in the quest to raise standards within the rail industry was made, when the new Institute of Rail Welding (IoRW) was launched at The Royal Society recently. There was a very enthusiastic audience for this event numbering over 200 and representing all the major organisations involved in rail track construction and maintenance in the UK.

The opening session was chaired by Professor Brian Mellitt, president of The Welding Institute. The keynote speaker was David Ventry, who is head of Permanent Way at Railtrack. He spoke of his commitment to the new organisation and how it will increase effectiveness and raise standards in the rail industry. Bevan Braithwaite and Tim Jessop, both of TWI, also spoke at the launch session about the objectives of the IoRW and about TWI's contribution to it.

The IoRW will establish new systems to cover competence of key personnel such as welders and welding inspectors, and quality assurance criteria for welder-training organisations and welding contractors. They will make use of the well-established principles currently employed by TWI Certification Ltd, for example, in the CSWIP scheme.

The Institute of Rail Welding (Tel: +44 (0)1223 891162) will be used as a means of bringing the various factions of the rail-welding community together and to engender a culture of teamwork and continuous improvement. It will be an open society with an array of valuable, dedicated services and benefits; for example, a newsletter, a Web site and a programme of technical events.