Cubis Rail Products at the core of Birmingham City Centre Metro Link

Case Study

The West Midlands area of the UK is currently undergoing a major redevelopment of its light rail infrastructure. The billion-pound project is to be completed over the next 8 years and will bring together 6 new light rail lines with 50 trams across the city of Birmingham and the surrounding areas.

Cubis Systems were approached early in the design and planning stages by Colas Rail and the Midland Metro Alliance to provide a full assessment of potential above and below ground network access and cable protection systems. The innovative Cubis rail product range enabled full integration of utilities from both the new metro system and existing utilities. This integration will future proof new and existing utilities for decades to come.

Cubis supplied 100+ STAKKAbox™ network access chambers, over 1km of the MULTIduct™ cable protection system and a wide range of AX-S™ access covers including B125 recessed covers. The recessed covers provided a complete site chamber access and cover solution, while offering an improved aesthetic finish to the open public spaces.

STAKKAbox™ ULTIMA Connect was used due to its lightweight and flexible onsite capabilities with the capacity to be installed manually without the need for skilled wet trades. The individual 150mm deep sections of twin-wall GRP that make up the ULTIMA Connect chamber system provided a lightweight, modular solution with components falling under 25kg making them suitable for a single person lift under manual handling regulations, with an overall installation being significantly faster in comparison to conventional alternatives.

MULTIduct™ offered an innovative, lightweight, structural, multiple duct system that provided a modern alternative to traditional cable ducting. This was the ideal solution for the constraints of compacted city infrastructure and allowed for multiple utilities to be contained in a single ducting system. MULTIduct™ also reduced the projects overall carbon footprint enabling a significant reduction in the removal of on-site dug material. MULTIduct™ has high crush strength properties that require a much shallower burial depth and existing ground materials were reused during the installation reducing time, cost and the need for heavy plant.

MULTIduct™ also delivered a seamless integration with its range of chamber access products such as STAKKAbox™ ULTIMA Connect enabling enhanced cable management and network access across the project.