Published on: Tuesday, 2 May 2017
Last updated: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Greater Anglia is to carry out improvements to its buffet cars on the Norwich – London line after apprentice, Daniel Boardley, came up with a way of keeping them cooler in summer.
Daniel was tasked with reducing high temperatures on the buffet cars to help keep catering staff more comfortable, after asking the depot management team for a project which would go towards his BTEC Level 3 in Engineering, Maintenance and Operations.
The 27 year old from Lowestoft, who is in the third year of his four year apprenticeship at Lowestoft College, then designed and tested a solution, in conjunction with fleet team at Norwich Crown Point Depot, which would allow the heat generated by steam and the on board to water boiler to escape from the carriage.
As a result, extractor fans, which were tested and sourced by Daniel, and demonstrated a reduction in temperatures of six degrees over 30 minutes during the testing phase, will now be installed on all seven buffet cars over the next few weeks.
Daniel will help to fit the first system, allowing him to see the entire project through from start to finish. He hopes to become a full time technician when he completes his course. He commented; “I was great to have a project that I was responsible for from start to finish and I’m really pleased that it will make a real difference, helping to keep the buffet cars cooler and more comfortable.”
Greater Anglia’s Head of Engineering, Colin Dobson, commented: “Our engineers and technicians continually strive to create innovative solutions to improve performance, reliability and comfort for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use our services every week.”