Celebrated with a cake-cutting and networking breakfast, director David Mitchell and colleagues met to show and share their pride in key achievements and projects, discuss their learnings from their work on the line, and areas of focus for the future.

(Left to right) David Mitchell (Director at UK Power Networks Services), Rob Dean (Head of Route Engineering and Operations at High Speed One) and Gary Warner (HS1 Client Delivery Manager at UK Power Networks Services)

HS1 is the 109km rail line between St Pancras International in London and the Channel Tunnel, connecting the international high-speed routes between London and Paris, London and Brussels and London and Amsterdam, as well as the domestic route from London to Kent. Since its launch, HS1 has boosted the Kentish economy by £311 million.

A dedicated group of 24 leadership, field and control room staff from UK Power Networks Services works with HS1 year-round to keep services on-track on one of the most reliable train services across Europe.

The relationship between UK Power Networks Services and HS1 goes well beyond the 20-year anniversary, as the company also designed, built and commissioned the network which has transported over 100 million happy customers since it was first opened in 2003.

Successes of UK Power Networks Services project delivery include recent completion of Re-Gen, creating a £5 million energy saving; in addition to a combined £13 million of investment on upgrade of SVC control and projection equipment and replacement of the company’s SCADA system, in the past two years alone, notwithstanding other ongoing upgrade projects.

UK Power Networks Services is also lockstep with the transport provider in driving forward the green Net Zero agenda: in recent years UK Power Networks Services has supported them to introduce regenerative braking, reviewing operating regimes to reduce energy consumption and is assisting with solar PV feasibility connections helping HS1 to decarbonise its estate and support the green gateway to Europe ambitions by working towards a complete carbon-free journey.

David Mitchell, director of UK Power Networks Services said: “It was fantastic to be able to celebrate our 20-year anniversary with our client, High Speed 1, and colleagues on the project who have successfully operated and maintained the traction and non-traction power infrastructure throughout.

“Among a long list of collaborative achievements over the 20 years, our greatest achievement is the safety performance. I am so proud of a team that has delivered 13 years without a Lost Time Injury (LTI), a fantastic achievement not just for our employees but also for the passengers that travel on the High Speed 1 network.”

Rob Dean, head of route engineering and operations at HS 1, said: “We’re delighted to celebrate 20 years working with UK Power Networks Services, who have been integral to helping HS1 Ltd deliver a world-class rail line for passengers.

“Their support has helped us maintain the resilience needed to run the HS1 line, as indicated by the fact that we have gone over two years without a railway-impacting incident due to asset performance.

“From everyone at HS1 Ltd, we want to thank UK Power Networks Services for their work, and look forward to continuing a successful partnership with them.”