Ilkeston, Derbyshire had previously been the largest town in Britain on a passenger railway line without a station, with the original Ilkeston Junction and Cossall Station closing back in January 1967. However, this all changed when a project led by Derbyshire County Council proposed the idea of a new station being built which would enable passengers to catch hourly trains running north to Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds and south to Nottingham, with some going to Liverpool and Norwich.
The station required lighting to cover the platforms, steps, walkways and also the car parks. Abacus were firmly on board with the project and worked alongside construction company Galliford Try.
With over 50 years of experience in supplying lighting columns to the Rail Industry, Abacus were able to propose the ideal lighting solution for use at Ilkeston Station, the Abacus Raise and Lower Column. A mixture of heavy duty and medium duty columns were used across the platforms dependent on headload requirements. Abacus amended the design of these particular columns in order to allow for the attachment of additional equipment, such as signage, speakers and CCTV equipment.
Extended column roots were implemented in order to compensate for the hollow platform design and to hold the columns firmly in place whilst coping with the additional stresses of heavy headloads.
The base hinged design of the Raise and Lower Column allows for maintenance and cleaning to be undertaken safely at ground level within the limited platform space available. In a one person operation, the columns are quickly and safely lowered to ground level using a counterbalance unit, there is no need for heavy lifting equipment and personnel do not have to work at heights.
