Birley Manufacturing

Birley Manufacturing designs and manufactures rail interior solutions such as toilets, luggage stacks / racks, panels, galleys, sleeper berths, cab back walls, electrical equipment cupboards, underframe side skirts as well as on-platform ticket desks and offices.

The company’s team of in-house designers and engineers produce high-quality visuals and renders of products for client discussion. Their collective design knowledge means there are few challenges that have not been already encountered and successfully overcome.

Birley Manufacturing designs, manufactures, supplies and installs solutions, giving them full accountability throughout any project.

Birley Manufacturing designs and produces interior solutions and toilet modules for trains.

The company provides its Universal Accessible Toilet (UAT) module, which complies with persons of reduced mobility and technical specifications for interoperability (PRM-TSI) requirements.

Birley also manufacturers a space saver toilet module, which has many of the same design features as the UAT module.

Birley Manufacturing designs and manufactures galleys that can incorporate a variety of ancillary equipment, including coffee machines, water boilers, sinks and fridges.

Galleys are designed with a full range of catering facilities, including kitchens, cocktail bars and shops.

The company designs and installs a range of interior equipment on trains, including luggage racks, bicycle racks and sliding doors.

In 2015, Birley Manufacturing received an order to supply sleeper berths on the Night Riviera Sleeper Train operated by Great Western Railway.

The sleeper berths included a range of features, including Dricon® plywood berth doors, aluminium bunk beds, and ceiling panels with light-emitting diodes (LED).

Birley Manufacturing designs ticket offices for railway stations.

Universal Accessible Toilet (UAT) modules for trains

Birley Manufacturing’s latest innovation success is their Universal Accessible Toilet Module (UAT). The UAT has been designed to provide high structural integrity in a two-piece modular construction, which is fully compliant with persons of reduced mobility and technical specifications for interoperability (PRM-TSI) requirements.

By 2020, all rolling stock companies are required to provide long-lasting UATs in their train carriages. Birley Manufacturing’s extensive in-house knowledge of the rail industry, along with stringent safety requirements, materials, operating procedures, testing and rail group standards are helping clients to meet these needs.

Birley Manufacturing’s UAT module has a sealed one-piece floor moulding prevents the egress of liquids to the vehicle floor structure, therefore, reducing the risk of corrosion. The unit also contains a range of attractive and useful features, including LED lighting, a hand cleansing system with hygienic infra-red activation, a hinged mirror cabinet and a baby-changing unit. The modern, fresh interior can be adapted to match the style and colour of any vehicle.

The UAT has been nationally recognised by the EEF, receiving ‘Highly Commended’ in the Smart Product Award category. The new UAT unit demonstrates how Birley Manufacturing’s innovation resulted in a cost-effective solution and an improved environment for passengers and staff.

Train interior solutions

Birley Manufacturing provides rail-compliant solutions for train interior trim and underframe fabrications.

The solutions include sleeper berths, galley’s, catering trolley storage facilities, toilet modules, tanks, vanity units, cab back cubicles, luggage stacks, tables, litter bins, CET tank rafts, internal sliding doors and centre ceiling modules.

The company also manufactures dado, floor and vestibule end panels, draught screens, heater grilles and bicycle racks, as well as DDA-compliant ticket counters, lounge refurbishments, and customer welcome points for stations.

Luggage stacks and racks

A full range of luggage stacks and racks can be provided by the company to existing and new rail vehicle designs. These would normally be produced in stainless-steel or powder-coated steel tubes with dricon or honeycomb panels fitted with BSI safety glass.

Galley and catering facilities

Working closely with rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOS), train operating companies (TOCs), rolling stock manufacturers and refurbishing companies, Birley is able to design, manufacture and supply catering cars with a full range of kitchens, cocktail bars and shops.

With so many stakeholders involved, full-size mock-ups are often built to incorporate catering equipment such as coffee machines, water boilers, sinks, fridges and other ancillary equipment. This aids the decision process, provides perspective and allows for further modifications to the design and layout before final production.

Sleeper berths

In 2015, Birley won the contract to design and supply sleeper berths and galleys to the Night Riviera Sleeper Train, which is operated by Great Western Railway. The company was involved from the concept stage to enable the industrial aspirations of the design to be achieved.

The berth comprises aluminium laminated panels, Dricon® plywood berth doors with an electronic lock, aluminium honeycomb bunks, ceiling panels with LED lighting, a wardrobe and GRPh solid-surface vanity unit, windows with blinds, and a decorative shelf.

MKIII vehicle-compliant carriage under frame skirts

Birley is a specialist in the rail metal fabrication sector. The company has more than two decades’ experience and is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of underframe side skirts currently fitted on all MKIII and HST vehicles.

Manufacture of these replacement skirts needs to be undertaken by highly skilled fabricators and coded welders since they are classed as safety critical product.

Birley has supplied MKIII / HST for the past 20 years, meaning that the company’s carriage underskirts will be fitted on vehicles across the rail network.

About Birley

Birley has more than 140 years of manufacturing experience and has been a specialist in rail, education, supermarkets and banking sectors over a quarter of a century. With an annual turnover in excess of £11 million, the company is one of the UK’s largest providers of rail undercarriage protective skirt and egress internal sliding doors.

In December 2013, Birley Manufacturing was included in the inaugural publication of London Stock Exchange Group’s 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain, a list of the most inspirational small and medium-sized companies in the UK.