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External Trackside Solutions

Ideal for renewing or upgrading facilities to meet the changing needs of train operating companies.

Rail Live 2023 | 21st - 22nd June | Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre, Warwickshire

Design. Supply. Build.

We offer complete end-to-end delivery, from fully insured project design and unique product supply, to full turnkey installation using our specialist partner contractors.

Dura Composites has experience in the design and supply of GRP product solutions for external infrastructure and depot works. Thanks to the lightweight nature of the materials and their ease of manoeuvrability, works can be easily undertaken without impacting on operational safety or the running of services which rely on these facilities every day.

Our gritted anti-slip walkways for examples are the ideal safe access to external fuelling areas, CET stations and wash-plant facilities. Made from our d2 Dura Grating they are an ideal and cost-effective alternative to traditional grating materials like wood, galvanised steel and stainless steel.

The grating is exclusive to Dura Composites and cannot be found anywhere else . It has been extensively anti-slip tested using methods far superior to those of other GRP grating suppliers, achieving anti-slip scores of more than 63 in the wet, maintaining low slip potential even after 1.1 million footfalls.

Trackside Walkways


Lightweight


Non-Sparking


Non-Conductive


Anti-Slip

Dura Composites’ Trackside walkways are durable, lightweight, chemical and corrosion resistant, non-sparking, non-conductive and easy to manoeuvre into place aids safety and productivity.

Suitable for many applications in the rail industry our GRP Driver and Trackside Walkways offer a performance-improving alternative to traditional materials such as timber, steel and concrete.

Dura Composites is a market leader in composite open mesh grating walkway systems, having supplied to industry for 25 years. Our d2 Dura Grating is a new patent pending (Application No: GB 19 04928.7) GRP grating series which achieves an industry-leading Class B fire rating in accordance with BS EN 13501-1 and has been championed within the rail industry for its performance-to-weight ratio and improved visual inspection capability versus previous generation GRP grating.

Using d2 Dura Grating, trackside walkways and walking routes can be easily configured to meet the requirements of accessing the rail site for train-related purposes or for maintenance of infrastructure.

We also offer heavy duty walkways made from our unique pultruded Dura Slab which is the ideal alternative for heavy and cumbersome concrete. It can be fabricated on site using standard cutting tools, with no hot works permits required or cut to size at our East of England Operations Centre to save valuable time on your rail project.

View our Grating Products  View our Slab Products

Overline Pedestrian Bridges


Saving Time


Improved Lifecycle


Low Maintenance


Fire Resistant

Overlay solutions with gritted plate covers on to timber are not a safe and long lasting solution, accelerating the degradation of the timber substructure which is dangerous for both the public and maintenance staff.

With increasing amounts of traffic on the tracks, overline pedestrian bridges can improve safety for those needing to cross the railway line.

Dura Composites’ GRP Dura Slab Structural Stair Treads and Landings can be used as part of new build bridge construction and as a replacement for rotting timbers in footbridge refurbishments.

Extremely low-maintenance, the products will not rot, corrode or even lose colour throughout their design life, and are ideally suited to situations where the footbridge or staircase is located in close proximity to overhead power lines or electrified areas, due to their non-conductive properties.

The treads and landings can be easily fixed into position thanks to their single unit construction and feature a built-in riser for rapid installation and an in-built fall to assist with drainage and reduce pooling on stair surfaces.

Structural Landings

Working in conjunction with our popular Dura Slab Structural Stair Treads, Dura Composites offer landing panels which can span up to 2.4m clear span (50mm thick option), achieving 5kN/m2 at L/200 deflection or up to 3.2m (using the 100mm option).

Both reduce or eliminate the need for additional supports to break spans down, providing huge advantages over other composite solutions on the market.

Dura Slab Structural Landings are designed as a modular system, allowing the contractor huge flexibility both at the design stage and on site.

Dura Composites’ unique high specification composition has been rigorously tested (in accordance with BS 7976-2:2002+A1:2013) and achieves ultra-low slip potential in both wet and dry conditions.

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Structural Stair Treads

Dura Composites pultruded GRP treads speed up install times and reduce costs, possessions and bridge closures, thereby limiting disruption to end users. They are lightweight, high strength, anti-slip, non-corrosive and non-conductive and overcome all of the problems normally associated with the use of traditional materials such as wood, steel and concrete.

Where previous composite treads on the market have been limited in span capabilities, Dura Composites has the ability to span up to 2.1m clear open span, achieving the required 5kN/m2 at L/200 deflection and meaning that additional supports can be avoided in most scenarios. The Dura Slab Structural Stair Tread design can be specified with built-in risers, speeding up the install process whilst increasing safety, particularly in scenarios where bridge treads are located near overhead lines or are replacing open risers.

Also included is a very slight fall to assist in the prevention of water pooling which can lead to problems with ice in the winter months. No heavy lifting equipment is needed as all panels can be easily manhandled even in full stock lengths.

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Stair Tread Nosing Strips

Dura Tread Nosing Strips can be applied to a variety of stair tread materials such as concrete, wood, chequer plate or GRP grating to help mitigate the risk of slipping, tripping and falling.

Quick and easy to install, Dura Tread Nosing Strips have a tough anti-slip gritted surface and are available in both Yellow and White to maximise visibility of the stair edge. Each piece is 1830mm long as standard and the profile dimension is 55mm x 55mm with a thickness of 4mm.

Choose Dura Tread Nosings for a quick, cost effective solution to improving safety in slippery or hazardous areas, and for areas used by the public.

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Fencing and Gate Solutions

Dura Composites’ modular GRP gates and fencing have been developed as an alternative to steel due to their non-conductive properties, making them extremely suitable for electrified rail environments to enable access to specific authorised personnel, whilst preventing others from accessing high-risk areas.

Strong but lightweight, they can be used for a wide range of trackside and depot applications such as removable fencing, permanent fencing and sliding gates.

With a visually appealing mesh design, the fencing can be pre-assembled off site for rapid installation or supplied in component form.

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Elevated Platforms

We can design and fabricate a wide range of elevated platforms for trackside and rail depot environments. Installed throughout the UK rail network, our Driver Access Platforms (also known as GRP DAPs or Driver Hop-Ups) are non-conductive and non-sparking and can be pre-fabricated at our UK Fabrication Centre in East Anglia, ready for delivery and installation on site.

Driver Access Platforms

Dura Composites has in-house design and fabrication capabilities which deliver high-performance GRP depot Driver Access Platforms and Maintenance Platforms for virtually any requirement in the depot or trackside, including nose end and carriage access.

Our popular modular designs allow for re-use over and over again in multiple locations for maximum efficiency and the technological advances of our d2 technology ensures the safest, most user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing systems on the market.

We have a team of CAD experts as well as in-house GRP structural design resources to ensure your planned access platform meets all the safety and loading requirements for your specific application.

All components used in our structures are individually tested to ensure performance and can be pre-assembled by our skilled UK fabricators at our Fabrication Centre. Dura Composites is certified to ISO-9001, the International standard for Quality Management. The lightweight nature of our GRP material means that once built, our structures are easy to manoeuvre around the site, meaning installation works can be undertaken quickly with minimal impact to operations.

Maintenance Wash Bays

Dura Composites supporting framework for maintenance wash bays utilises 203mm GRP channel, versus the commonly used weaker 150mm channel. Uniquely in the market, all our d2 GRP profile components meet the E23 grade performance requirement of the BS EN 13706 standard (which covers the specification of GRP pultruded profiles) and provides greater strength and consistent quality.

The flooring components have been anti-slip tested for the equivalent of over 1m footfalls, achieving anti-slip scores of more than 63 in the wet environments found in a wash down, maintaining low-slip potential even after an incredible 1.1 million footfalls.

Refuge Platforms

Our GRP refuge platforms can be employed by maintenance personnel for safe access to signalling equipment and other trackside areas.

Thanks to the material’s non-conductive properties, it is a safer alternative in OHLE or third rail environments than conventional materials and poses no risk of electrical shock, removing the requirement for earth-bonding.

Embankment Staircases

High strength and with an anti-slip surface, Dura Composites Embankment Staircases are a ground-breaking pultruded GRP rapid install stair system, ideal for use on embankments to provide safe maintenance access to works staff on mounds and embankments. They are designed as a modular system, allowing the contractor huge flexibility both at the design stage and also on-site. The gritted GRP walking surfaces cater for all types of footwear, offering excellent anti-slip qualities and feature a high visibility stripe on each stair nosing for maximum pedestrian safety. Lightweight components allow for easy delivery to remote locations and rapid installation at a wide variety of slope angles.

Bespoke Fabrications

Dura Composites can design fabricated structures to meet customers’ unique requirements.

Available exclusively from Dura Composites, the d2 products from which our fabrications are constructed feature unique designs, new material technology or manufacturing methods and deliver class-leading performance for their applications.

We have a team of CAD experts and an in-house GRP structural design resource to ensure your planned fabrication meets all the safety and loading requirements for your specific application.

All fabricated structures can be supplied with detailed dimensions and weights, including overall footprint size to ensure it will fit within your planned design. The supporting framework of our bespoke fabrications utilises 203mm RP channel, versus weaker 150mm channel commonly used by competitors.

Uniquely in the market, all our d2 Dura Profile components meet the E23 grade performance requirement of the BS EN 13706 standard (which covers the specification of GRP pultruded profiles) and provides greater strength and consistent quality.

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Ballast Retention Systems


Saves Time


Improves Safety


Long Lifecycle


Non-conductive

Our patented component forms the core support element of the full system and reduces the time taken to build a whole ballast retention system from weeks to just days.

Open and closed systems with hatches or lids, Dura Composites innovative GRP Ballast Retention systems allow Network Rail and key contractors greater access to hidden critical parts of structures to facilitate key safety checks and take action where necessary.

Dura Ballast Retention has been successfully implemented on a host of projects nationwide and offers significant advantages over traditional materials, including increased strength to weight ratio, high resistance to impact and resistance to fire and corrosion.

As part of the consultation process, Dura Composites provides all the technical information necessary to obtain Form 3 approval.

Bespoke support is provided for each installation to allow for the inclusion of enhanced speed and safety features such as the supply of GRP handrailing, bespoke lockable HCE inspection hatches, web stiffeners to suit particular dimensions and fabricated access staircases.

Specific Dura Patented Hidden Critical Elements (HCE) products have been developed through on-site experience and feedback from contractors.

The number of components and weight have been optimised to allow for rapid installation and fewer possessions.

Closed Dura Ballast Retention System with Inspection Lid

  • Type P40A Solid GRP Ballast Board
  • Dura Web Stiffener
  • Dura Profile
  • Open Mesh Inspection Lid
  • Compression Fixings for Front Face Fixing Only

Open Dura Ballast Retention with no Inspection Lid

  • Dura Grating Open Ballast Boards
  • Dura Web Stiffener
  • Dura Profile
  • Compression Fixing

Closed Ballast Retention with Inspection Hatches

  • Type 40 Solid GRP Ballast Board with Inspection Hatch
  • Dura Web Stiffener
  • Dura Profile
  • Dura Hatch Lock Plate

Ballast Retention System Lids only

  • For applications where the requirement only calls for lids or extensions onto existing Ballast Retention Systems, and full systems are not required, we have developed Pultruded Grating Lids with a 21.6mm open aperture and standard Grating Lids with a 42x42mm open aperture.

Modular Web Stiffener (Patented GB2522039)

Dura’s Universal Modular Web Stiffener is fully adjustable and helps speed up install times, resulting in fewer possessions. Specifically developed for Hidden Critical Element (HCE) works, the Modular Web Stiffener System is the latest in highly engineered composite technology.

Comprising a unique pultrusion system which reduces the number components and weight even further but maintaining the required strength. The reduction in the number of components and weight verses alternatives further improves install time on-site.

Easier and Faster to Install on-site

Significantly reducing the weight and bonding in the factory, has not only increased speed of delivery but has also improved installation time. Based on real site feedback, not only is it easier to handle but the new design also allows for easier on-site adjustments.

Improved Fabrication Lead-times

The average bridge package currently takes 2 weeks to fabricate, whilst Dura Composites’ patented design allows the same package to be produced in 2-3 days. As well as investing in the new tooling we have also added significant new machinery including bespoke cutting and bonding equipment to enable this huge speed improvement.

High Strength to Weight Ratio

The solution has been designed as a two-part pultrusion with an advanced glass and roving system. This precision engineering results in significant weight saving versus alternative designs and marked improvements in safety. Dura Composites’ Modular Web Stiffener System can be delivered rapidly to site to coincide with last minute possession or urgent line blockages which can be critical in the rail environment, making it the ideal choice over inferior web stiffeners on the market.

Our Rail Team

We are helping to answer the major challenges facing Britain’s railway network such as capacity, reliability and efficiency. Composite materials are a realistic long term alternative across a wide range of applications within the Rail Industry in replacing traditional materials. Get in touch on 01255 440291

Richard Palmer

Sales Manager

Martin​ Strawford

Technical Solutions Manager

Victoria Lockyear

Account & Vested Stock Manager

Nithin Karin

Key Account Manager

Rail Products

Rail Depots and Trackside Solutions | GRP Products for the Rail Industry

Discover Dura Composites d2 range, our next generation composites which deliver the greatest level of performance improvement for rail applications such as ballast retention, trackside walkways, trench covers, driver hop ups, access structures and safety handrailing.

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