We collaborated with Mitie and KONE to install four Emergency Lift Power Systems (ELPS) for National Rail at The Quadrant, Milton Keynes.
We were entrusted with retrofitting The Quadrant with back up emergency power for their lifts to ensure safe emergency lift functionality in line with British Standards for building safety, BS 9999 and BS 8519. The primary engineering objective was to enhance the facility’s life safety resilience while maintaining zero-interruption to live rail infrastructure.
The project was defined by logistical constraints, necessitating additional measures to manoeuvre the equipment due to restricted stepped access and working around space restraints for installation. Despite these spatial challenges, the systems were successfully integrated into the existing infrastructure, providing a solution designed for long-term maintainability and robust performance under emergency conditions.
Project Specifications
- Site Location: The Quadrant, Milton Keynes
- Primary Scope: Installation of 4x Emergency Lift Power Systems
- Standards Adherence: BS 9999, BS 8519
- Environment: Live operational National Rail station
Project Challenges
The first part of the installation process starts with a site visit from one of our Engineers to fully assess the logistics and any unexpected obstacles.
This initial assessment flagged the following hurdles for the National Rail installation:
Logistical Hurdles
Retrofitting to an existing National Rail station came with some logistical and spatial challenges:
- Access to installation site, lift and stairs down to navigate equipment into the installation space
- Installation of ELPS around existing pipes within the space allocated for the unit
Technical Hurdles
Installation of new equipment into a busy live National Rail station had to be planned for minimal disturbance to customers using the site.
The Installation
To overcome the challenges we took bespoke measures in co-ordination with National Rail and KONE.
The key bespoke aspects of the installation:
- Installation outside of business hours
- Fully risk-assessed manual moving of equipment
- Full adherence to site safety procedures
Minimising Service Interruptions
To avoid service disruption the installation was planned for outside usual business hours. This allowed us to safely manoeuvre the ELPS units into position without interrupting services and removing risk to National Rail customers.
We aligned with National Rail and KONE to ensure the timings worked for all parties.
Equipment Handling
We used specialist Machinery Movers to get our equipment to the National Rail site.
Moving the equipment into position at site was fully risk assessed and was able to be completed using available manpower. This approach was scoped out prior to the installation date based on the weight of the equipment, number of steps and available manpower to safely manoeuvre the ELPS into the final installation space.
Equipment Integration
Installing into a live National Rail station, we worked to integrate the ELPS into the existing electrical infrastructure with clean, structured cable management.
We ensured clear system segregation along with a maintainable and accessible design. This allows for the backup power to work seamlessly, whilst also being easy to service for future system maintenance.
Compliance & Safety Standards
The ELPS installation provides The Quadrant with a power solution that meets the emergency power requirements of Evacuation Lifts and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order of 2005 and BS 9999, along with compliant cabling in line with BS 8519.
Project Success
Through careful assessment, planning and execution The Quadrant now has reliable back up lift power to ensure safe evacuation of all customers in an emergency.
Our post-installation testing all passed first-time both immediately after we finished the work and upon a secondary visit to re-test. These tests are vital for complete confidence with the new system, confirming the success of the engineers and completing the job to our high standards.
The completed system demonstrates:
- Clean, structured cable management
- Clear system segregation
- Maintainable and accessible design
- Robust, long-term reliability
It’s a solution built not just to meet specification—but to perform in real-world conditions.
We are proud to support Network Rail, alongside Mitie and KONE, in delivering resilient infrastructure that underpins safe and reliable operations.
