Hawker Siddeley Switchgear is a British manufacturer of electrical switchgear and

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...

equipment, the company operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia. Based in the United Kingdom and are owned by

Melrose plc Melrose Industries plc is a British manufacturing company based in London. It specialises in buying, investing in, and divesting engineering companies. Its shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Mel ...

History

In 1957,

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

group acquired the Brush Group, and in 1973 Brush Switchgear acquired Bowthorpe's power equipment division, with factories at Bridgend and Banbury. In 1991 South Wales Switchgear merged with Brush Switchgear to form Hawker Siddeley Switchgear Limited.. The company was bought by FKI in 1996 becoming part of FKI Switchgear; a division also including the company Whipp & Bourne since 1986. In 2008

acquired FKI along with its Switchgear group, following which FKI Switchgear once again became Hawker Siddeley Switchgear. As of 2009 Melrose has incorporated four electrical switchgear manufacturers: *Hawker Siddeley Switchgear Ltd - formed in 1991 from South Wales Switchgear and Brush Switchgear **South Wales Switchgear - (founded 1941) - instrumental in developing SF₆ gas insulated switchgear. **Brush Switchgear - (Brush Electrical Engineering company founded 1888) - pioneers of

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often ...

switchgear. *Hawker Siddeley Switchgear Pty Ltd in Australia (HSSA) - (in operation since 1964) - subsidiary of Hawker Siddeley Switchgear. *Whipp & Bourne - (established in 1903 by Samuel Whipp and Charles Bourne).

Products

The company's products include overhead electrical line and other outdoor switchgear for voltages up to 38 kV, indoor switchgear for voltages to 15 kV, containerised

electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and ...

s, HV DC switchgear for currents up to 12 kA with voltages up to 1.8 kV and protection relays, as well as servicing, maintenance and repair services. The company has supplied equipment for the

Channel Tunnel rail link High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...

, the

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connectic ...

and the Dubai Metro programHawker Siddeley Switchgear Ltd on track with second phase of prestigious rail project
''hss-ltd.com'' amongst others.

References

External links

* *
Australian subsidiaryMelrose PLC website
Companies based in Loughborough Electrical engineering companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies of Australia Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-manufacturing-company-stub