Renold Gears has won a ‘prestige order’ to supply seven new escalator drive packages to London Underground as part of Transport for London’s (TfL) refurbishment of escalators at Holborn underground station. Each new drive package includes a heavy-duty, TW worm gear unit, a motor, brake and baseplate. The gearboxes incorporate the company’s innovative, new, leak-free technology design, an important factor at underground stations for improved safety, reliability, reduced maintenance and a cleaner operating environment.
Speaking of the refurbishment, David Hughes, London Underground’s Director of Strategy and Service Development said, ‘This work is necessary because the escalators at Holborn are becoming increasingly unreliable due to their age and heavy use. Holborn is one of our busiest stations, with 40 million customers each year, and we need to make sure that the escalators are reliable for the future.’
Holborn is the 14th busiest station on the London Underground network during the working week, with over 60,000 customers exiting the station every weekday and over 40 million customers using the station annually. There are seven escalators at the station that need to be refurbished due to their age and condition. There are four between the ticket hall and the intermediate concourse for the Central line and three from there to the Piccadilly line platforms.
As the leading supplier of heavy-duty escalator drive packages Renold Gears’ experienced application engineers are able to design bespoke solutions and provide the optimum design for the escalators at Holborn station. Each of the new drive packages will be assembled at Renold Gear’s factory before undergoing rigorous testing in the presence of London Underground’s engineers. The drive packages will then be disassembled for transportation and reassembled onsite with Renold’s engineers.
Speaking of the project Roger Godson, Renold Gears’ commercial director said, ‘We’re absolutely delighted to have won this prestigious order to supply new escalator drive packages for the escalators at Holborn Station as part of the refurbishment programme that will ensure their safe and reliable operation long into the future.’
For more information, contact Renold Gears, Station Road, Milnrow, Rochdale, Lancashire OL16 3LS, United Kingdom, Tel +44 (0)1706 751000, Fax +44 (0)1706 751001, e-mail: gears.sales@renold.com, web: renold.com
