Railfest 2012 added a stunning rail bonus to the exuberant celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Crowds flocked to the nine day railway festival at the National Railway Museum in York. Carol Vorderman launched proceedings by naming East Coast’s record breaking 91110, ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.’ Nationwide , , & Network Maintenance Repair Improvement Plant Hire stobartrail.com See Stobart Advert P2 Get the right team on board with McGinley Support Services www.mcginley.co.uk www.railstaff.co.uk THE MOST POPULAR PUBLICATION IN THE UK RAIL INDUSTRY RailStaff PAGE 8 Jubilee Bonus for Samantha Hodder PAGE 19 Angelica engineers rail success PAGE 35 PAGE 4 Theresa Villiers backs rail training Getting more people, particularly women, into the rail industry. Vital Rail’s first female apprentice urges other girls to join rail. Issue 175 / June 2012 Jubilee Joy at Railfest 2012
Transcript
Railfest 2012 added a stunning rail bonus to the exuberant celebrations of the Queen’sDiamond Jubilee. Crowds flocked to the nine day railway festival at the National RailwayMuseum in York. Carol Vorderman launched proceedings by naming East Coast’s recordbreaking 91110, ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.’
Nationwide
, ,
&
Network Maintenance Repair
Improvement Plant Hire
stobartrail.com
See Stobart Advert P2
Get the right team on boardwith McGinley Support Services www.mcginley.co.uk
www.railstaff.co.ukTHE MOST POPULAR PUBLICATION IN THE UK RAIL INDUSTRY
RailStaff
PAGE 8
Jubilee Bonus forSamantha Hodder
PAGE 19
Angelica engineersrail success
PAGE 35PAGE 4
Theresa Villiers backsrail training
Getting more people, particularlywomen, into the rail industry.
Vital Rail’s first female apprenticeurges other girls to join rail.
Health & Safety In July’s RailStaffThe biggest asset of any company is its people. Their Health andSafety is therefore paramount. Find out what new Rail Health andSafety initiatives there are and keep in touch with Track Safety withour resident expert, Colin wheeler.Call Paul Curtis on 01530 56 00 26 or email [email protected].
It is hard to imagine thepompous presidents of the world’sesteemed republics allowingMadness to play live on the roofsof their palaces.
Harder still to connect the RoyalFamily with a grimy-finger, heavyengineering industry like railways- until you look a little closer andrealise the inherent strengths bothgroups share.
Railways depend on publicapproval and tax payer support forsurvival. Both have had to copewith politicians who often have nosense of history and only afaltering command of theirministerial brief. Similarly anti-railists can be rude and abusive butsheer professionalism precludesrail staff answering back or tellingthem what they really think.
Family is very important on therailway. Careers in railways passdown from one generation to theother. Often grandparents, sons,daughters and grandchildren areat work in the industry at thesame time. Happily the railwaydepends on much of the
Commonwealth for itsprofessionals and is all the betterfor that.
Apprenticeships in the railindustry can be long andchallenging but at least you knowthat once the time is served youwill be doing a job of nationalimportance.
More seriously the values HerMajesty the Queen has quietlyespoused strike a deep resonancewith most of her subjects.Religious faith is as central to theQueen as it is to many in therailway.
Sticking by your partner andchildren whatever the trials and
tribulations suffered is central. TheQueen has taught us by examplenot to be phased or frightened bychange.
We remain stable and, in themain, prosperous. Best in silenceto ignore the passing fads offashion, management-speak andshallow emotionalism. Toparaphrase Madness: How can itbe she can say so much withoutwords?
The railway may be poor attalking itself up but it performswell and is making a growingcontribution to the stability andprosperity of the realm.
God save the Queen.
Apprenticeships in the rail industrycan be long and challenging but atleast you know that once the timeis served you will be doing a job ofnational importance
PAGE 22 PAGE 43SPECIAL FOCUS
Rail welcome
Railway staff played a lead rolein carrying the Olympic Torcharound Britain. FirstGroup’sEngineering Director, CliveBurrows, carried the OlympicTorch in Chippenham.
Employers are increasing thetime they take to decide on whoto hire. At the same time, topgrade candidates are realisingthey have many advantages inan era of skill shortage.
RailStaffContact us:
COMMENT
In the middle ofour street
4 www.railstaff.co.uk
The National RailwayMuseum’s Railfestextravaganza formed a fittingrailway bonus to thespectacular celebrations of HerMajesty’s Diamond Jubilee.
An East Coast locomotive,91110, was named ‘Battle ofBritain Memorial Flight’ by TVstar Carol Vorderman at the startof the nine-day celebration ofBritain’s railways at the NationalRailway Museum in York. ASpitfire, Hurricane and Lancasterflew overhead as thousandsjoined the festivities.
91110, achieved a nationalspeed record for electric trains atStoke Bank, north ofPeterborough, on 17 September1989 - a record which stands tothis day.
A number of other recordbreakers were on display atRailfest 2012. The line up of over
50 locomotives included thefastest steam locomotive at126mph, Mallard, the firstlocomotive recorded to reach100mph, Flying Scotsman, andthe fastest post-war speed recordholder, Sir Nigel Gresley.
Says Squadron Leader IanSmith, Officer CommandingRAF BBMF and a former RedArrows pilot, ‘Everyoneassociated with RAF BBMF isthrilled that Britain’s record-holding electric expresslocomotive has been named inhonour of the Flight.
‘It will greatly help the RAFBBMF with one of its keymessages: to recognise andcommemorate the selfless acts ofbravery of over 100,000 RAFairmen and airwomen who havedefended our freedom overdecades, many making theultimate sacrifice.’
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NEWS
Gatwick Express, the non-stoprail-air link between centralLondon and Gatwick Airport,has seen a 17% increase inpassengers in the past year.
The service continues to attract
air passengers away from road andother rail services. Says AlexFoulds, Development Director forSouthern Railway which now runsthe Gatwick Express, ‘Consideringthe context of a 6.9% rise in airport
passengers at Gatwick, thesefigures reveal the robust health ofthe Gatwick Express brand. We areseeing a rise in both leisure andbusiness travellers from the UKand overseas.’
Newjump forGatwickExpress
Gatwick Express staff jump for joywhen celebrating the success oftheir service.
6 www.railstaff.co.uk
NEWS
On board announcements onChiltern are being livened up ina bid to tickle jaundicedcommuters.
Blackadder star, Tony Robinson,has been coaching train crew inthe new scripts, using his ownexperience at delivering mediaevalhumour.
Examples include: ‘I’d like towelcome passengers boarding this7.33 from Birmingham Moor Street
to London Marylebone. If you’vejust bumped into someone whoyou barely know, you now haveone hour and 30 minutes ofawkward small talk. Good luck.’And ‘We will shortly be passingthrough West Ruislip where wewill be racing the Undergroundtrains. Do please feel free to cheerfor our driver.’
Tony Robinson played Baldric inthe hit comedy series Blackadder.
The half term holiday saw stafffrom Network Rail completingwork on four new bridges alongthe Esk Valley line.
Engineers put in round the clockshifts to replace Danby, Duck,Thorneywaite and Carr Endbridges on the line betweenMiddlesbrough and Whitby.
Says Phil Verster, route managingdirector for Network Rail, ‘Thisroute is vital for hundreds ofchildren who use the train totravel to school each day. Afterconsiderable discussion withNorthern Rail it was clear theseessential improvements needed tobe scheduled for the schoolholidays in order to minimisedisruption.’
The North Yorkshire MoorsRailway ran additional services toWhitby during the bridgereplacements.
Esk Valleybridgebonus
Surface works for CrossrailNetwork Rail has agreed todeliver Crossrail surfaceinfrastructure work within the£2.3bn funding available.
This will enable Crossrailservices to operate out toMaidenhead, Heathrow, AbbeyWood and Shenfield.
Says Matthew White, Crossrail’ssurface director, ‘To enableCrossrail services to operate,Network Rail will be undertaking amulti-billion upgrade of the railnetwork with major improvementsplanned for the Great Eastern and
Great Western main linesincluding better stations,electrification, new and improvedsignalling and the integration ofthe new Crossrail tunnels with theexisting railway.’
The work, to be undertaken byNetwork Rail for Crossrail,represents one of the largestcommercial contracts in NetworkRail’s ten-year history. The dealmarks a further significantmilestone in the delivery of theCrossrail project.
Says Simon Kirby, managing
director, Network Rail InfrastructureProjects, ‘Network Rail’s combinedroles of operating and upgradingthe existing railway mean that weare uniquely placed to deliver theabove ground elements of thisworld-class project.
‘We’ve spent two years workingwith our customer, CrossrailLimited, to develop the exact scopeof the work and are confident thatwe have the right plan, expertiseand resources.’
Network Rail is responsible forthe elements of the Crossrail
project which are above groundand contained within the existingnetwork. This includesmodifications at 28 surfacestations, provision of power for thenew rolling stock includingoverhead lines, and the building ofa new, larger flyover at Stockley inHillingdon to enable Crossrailservices to operate to Heathrow.
Crossrail trains will travel fromMaidenhead and Heathrow,through new rail tunnels belowcentral London, to Shenfield andAbbey Wood.
Chiltern’s cunning plan“I’d like to welcomepassengersboarding this 7.33from BirminghamMoor Street toLondonMarylebone. Ifyou’ve justbumped intosomeone who youbarely know, younow have onehour and 30minutes ofawkward smalltalk. Good luck…”
“It’s a uniquecompany goingfrom strength tostrength…”ADAM RiCHARDSON,CHAiRMAN, QuATTRO GROup
8 www.railstaff.co.uk
Samantha Hodder has beenpromoted to Group CorporateAffairs Director at the Go-AheadGroup.
The Diamond Jubilee promotionfor the one time BuckinghamPalace press officer will see Hodderoverseeing all aspects of Go-Ahead’s communicationsorganisation.
Samantha joined Go-Ahead inNovember 2001. She has served asHead of Communications atSouthern and CommunicationsDirector for the Group’s raildivision. Before joining Go-Aheadshe worked in communications atBuckingham Palace and theDepartment for Education andEmployment.
Samantha started her career as alocal newspaper reporter. Her newrole spans Go-Ahead’s bus and raildivisions and her responsibilitiesinclude external and internalcommunications, public affairsand sustainability. She is agraduate of Manchester University.
Jubilee Bonus for Sam Hodder
Majorie Ward, whose beautifulfloral displays are a familiarsight in Fife, has retired after a23 year career with ScotRail.
Marjorie started at Ladybankstation in 1989 and worked ontrains and at Kirkcaldy, Edinburghand Cupar before she returned to
Ladybank in 2006. She boosted herfloral displays with specialityflowers as well as cuttings fromher own home.
Majorie has been guardian ofLadybank station’s heritage,maintaining its antique pendulumclock, which dates to 1847, and
historic photos and records. Florist Kirsty Lorenz, who runs a
studio in Ladybank, said, ‘Marjorieis one in a million and will begreatly missed.’
Ladybank flower lady retires
Chief Financial Officer of AngelTrains, George Lynn, is steppingdown after 18 years.
Lynn helped found the companyduring railway privatisation andwas involved procuring thePendolino fleet and the Desiros.Current Group Financial ControllerAlan Lowe will take over as CFO.
George Lynnsteps down
Richardsonto chairQuattroAdam Richardson is the newchairman of the Quattro Group.
Mr Richardson has over 20 yearsexperience in the management ofgrowth companies, both in the UKand USA. Following successfultakeovers of BCL Plant in 2008 andKent Sweepers in 2009, the QuattroGroup is now looking for furtheracquisitions and to expand theircurrent markets.
With a proven history in venturecapital and investment, Adamjoins the Board to help the Grouppush forward plans for furtherexpansion.
‘The Quattro Group is a companythat’s specialised and grownstrong in its core categories, whileothers have fallen. As the UK’sleading RRV plant hire company,the Quattro Group has the abilityto strengthen its offer in rail, andgrow into further related fields. It’sa tight, well run team, still ownedand run by its founder, JohnMurphy.
‘It’s a unique company going fromstrength to strength’ said Adam.
www.railstaff.co.uk 9
pEOpLE NEWS
David Attmere and Mark Ferrerhave been appointed DeliveryDirectors at invensys Rail.
David will look after the newWales, West and London Region.He has a 20 year rail industryexperience and was most recentlySenior Project Manager for theReading Remodelling Project forInvensys.
Mark heads up New Technologyand ETCS looking after thedelivery of the company’sThameslink project activities, aswell as for other ETCS projects. Hehas been Head of Engineering forInvensys Rail Northern Europe, aswell as Acting Delivery Director forthe company’s Midlands Regionproject portfolio.
Says Invensys Rail’s VPCommercial, Will Wilson, ‘With awealth of proven projectmanagement and engineeringexperience, I’m delighted thatDavid and Mark are to takeresponsibility for these twoimportant areas of our business.’
Delivery focus forInvensys Rail
Northern Rail has appointedthree new directors.
Alan Chaplin (pictured right)joins the business as ChiefOperating Officer. JonathanStewart is Commercial Directorand Richard Allan becomes AreaDirector in the north-east.
Alan has held senior posts atVeolia Transdev and the NationalExpress Group. Prior to hisappointment with Northern,Jonathan Stewart worked for DirexSolutions Ltd and has previouslyworked with First West and NorthYorkshire. Stewart is a major in theTerritorial Army.
Says Ian Bevan, ManagingDirector, Northern Rail, ‘We’rethrilled to announce these recentadditions to the Northern team.Alan, Jonathan and Richard areextremely valuable to us and bringwith them a broad range of
experience, which will be key to usas we drive the business forwardover the next two years.’
Chaplin headsTrinity at Northern
Vital Skills Training hasbolstered its Epping trainingcentre by appointing five railengineering tutors led by peteSavage (pictured).
The team has been recruited todeliver apprenticeship training fora group of apprentices working ona project to maintain the six-mileEpping Ongar Railway heritageline. The appointments closelyfollow the opening of Vital’sLondon head office at KenningtonPark.
With more than 50 years ofcombined experience in the railindustry, the team will be usingexpertise gained working forNetwork Rail and the railway toguide the apprentices throughtheir rail engineering training. Says50-year-old Pete Savage, fromDoncaster, ‘Vital is a major playerin the rail industry and I amdelighted to have joined thecompany at such an importanttime.
‘When you consider that theaverage age of people working inthe rail industry is 56, combinedwith the fact that the many railinfrastructure projects in thepipeline won’t be completed formany years, it is imperative thatyoung people are equipped withthe skills and disciplines needed toreplace and fill the industry’s skillgap. The rail industry offers apromising future and it feels goodto be in a position to make adifference to so many youngpeople’s lives.’
Vital rolefor PeteSavage
“I’m delighted thatDavid and Markare to takeresponsibility forthese twoimportant areas…”WiLL WiLSON,Vp COMMERCiAL, iNVENSyS RAiL
10 www.railstaff.co.uk
Join the Rail Alliance nowRail Alliance membership starts
introduction to BS1100029th June | 19th July | 16th AugustLong Marston
iMechE 12th SeptemberLondon
innotrans 2012 18th-21st SeptemberBerlin, Germany
New members
Rail Alliance events
Signature Ltd Signature’s sophisticated research,design and manufacturingfacilities are able to provide firstclass sign systems and trafficmanagement products.www.signatureltd.com
Harrington Generators Int. LtdHGI is the UK premier provider ofgenerators bespoke or “standard”to the rail industry. HGI machinesprovide power on over 90% ofNetwork Rail InfrastructureMonitoring and Maintenancevehicleswww.HGIgenerators.com
Schenck Process Manufacturers of pneumatic andmechanical conveyors, weighingand monitoring equipment for therail industry including sand fillingpumping stations for sand box re-filling.www.schenckprocess.co.uk
WISKA UK Ltd Manufacturer of high quality cableglands, junction boxes and cableentry equipment including theunique COMBI enclosures andSPRINT cable gland system.www.wiska.co.uk
JJ Engineering (Birmingham) LtdManufacturer of Metal Pressingsand Assemblies. Encompassing allassociated products and servicesincluding Robotic weldedassemblies supported withProjection and Spot welding.www.jjeng.co.uk
Barton Petroleum Supplier of fuels and lubricantsnationwide through theirdistributor network. www.bartonpetroleum.co.uk
The Rail Alliance is currentlyputting the finishing touches tothe second half of its eventprogramme for 2012/13.
Look out for details in the Julyissue of RailStaff as we embark onvisiting the regions, kindly hostedby various Rail Alliance members,as well as holding networkingmeetings at our ever popularcentral venue in Birmingham.
May has been a busy month with
Rail Alliance management teamattending the Westermo seminarat the National Railway Museumin York as well as staging asuccessful networking meeting atthe Holiday Inn Coventry,supported by InterContinentalHotel Group, at which our keynotespeaker Dr Mark Chattington ofTRL presented on ‘Rail VehicleCrashworthiness and OccupantSafety.’
We have also held another ofour popular BS11000 CollaborativeBusiness Relationship one-dayWorkshops. These workshops arecurrently offered free-of-charge toRail Alliance members (£500+VATto non-members). But this isabout to change, as fromSeptember onwards they willattract a modest charge… so, asFred Pontin used to say, ‘bookearly’ if you want to takeadvantage of the fact that the firstsix BS11000 FamiliarisationWorkshops are free-of-charge toRail Alliance members.
Merry month of May
RAiL ALLiANCE NEWS
premier pits, based nearSpalding, Lincolnshire,manufacture and installprefabricated steel vehiclemaintenance pits.
Pit manufacture, an ideaoriginated by the current ownerand managing director Mel Burrellover thirty years ago, started as anoff-shoot from an existing effluenttank manufacturing business.Initially pit sales, prompted by theFens’ high water table, remainedlocal to Lincolnshire,Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
Now over 3500 maintenanceworkshops across the U.K, Irelandand internationally, have beentransformed by Premier Pits. Thecompany believes that the benefitsalready experienced bycommercial vehicles can beexperienced by the rail industry.These benefits include:• Considerably reduced installation
times. Pits are installed in daysrather than the weeks needed to
install in-situ concrete pits.• Much tighter tolerances. Laser
measuring systems are used inthe factory and on site.
• Lower pit maintenance costs. Allpits are fully galvanised and canbe easily cleaned.
• Water tight. The welded con-struction ensures there is nowater ingress.
• Better working conditions forstaff. The clean, well lit, waterfree conditions ensure a betterworking environment.
Rail pits are certainly muchlonger and the weights involvedmuch greater. However, theengineering and installationprinciples that apply tocommercial vehicle pits can alsobe applied to train pits. Theexperience gained at Terminal 5,and the installation of tow-tugmaintenance pits at other airportsendorses this.
In 2008 Premier Pits successfullyinstalled two 54 metre pits for themaintenance of trains on thepassenger transfer system. Thisproject involved working to tightdeadlines and within veryconfined conditions, despite
having to lower each pit throughthe terminal roof down to thetrack 20 metres below. Installationonly took 5 days.
The image of the pit has beentransformed by Premier Pits. Whatstarted off as a simpleprefabricated shell is now asophisticated piece of garageequipment. Many added featureshave been introduced, includingseveral significant safety options.Prefabricated pits make aconsiderable contribution toenhancing the productivity ofvehicle workshops - why not railworkshops?
PremierPits
www.railstaff.co.uk 11
NEWS
Crime is down on Britain’srailways according to figuresreleased by the British Transportpolice.
Violent crime fell by 2.9%,robberies by 9.6% and vandalismby 21.6%. Theft also fell, with theftof passengers’ property down10.4% and theft of railway propertydown 12.8%.
BTP achieved all 11 of its nationalpolicing plan targets last year and43 out of 47 local targets. Nationaltargets include reducing crime,disruption and anti-socialbehaviour whilst improving valuefor money.
Says Chief Constable AndyTrotter, ‘If anyone wants to see thevalue of successful public services,they have only to look at us. BTPhas a record of consistent
achievement over an extendedperiod, whilst achieving evergreater value for money.’
Crime on the railways over thepast five years has fallen by over30%.
BTP announces crime drop
The Rail Alliance is looking forcompanies trading in the railsector that have NOT visitedinnotrans before, especiallythose with newly appointedBusiness DevelopmentManagers who may findthemselves having inherited orbeen given the rail sector as partof their portfolio.
Innotrans, the largest rail showin the world, has a footfall of some108,000+ visitors over the four daysit is open and, with over 33 halls ofequipment as well as an outdoorexhibition of hundreds of vehicles,it provides for a legitimate use ofthe word ‘awesome’ for once. If
you are new to the rail sector thenit would make sense to plan a visitto Innotrans 2012 in Berlin duringthe period 18-21 September 2012.Why not include it as part of yourCPD programme.
Innotrans provides atremendous opportunity to seewhat is out there in the publictransport arena as well as beingable to compare and contrast yourown products and services withthose from around the world. Over45 different countries exhibit atInnotrans.
To help defray some of the costs,you may also be able to get somesupport from United Kingdom
Trade and Investment using theirTradeshow Access ProgrammeSupport Scheme or their MarketVisit Support Scheme in the formof a grant.
The Rail Alliance will have bootson the ground during the four daysand will be providing its RailAdvocate service. Essentially, RailAlliance facilitators will work withyou before the event assessingyour needs and requirements andthen will be in-situ during theevent to meet you and give you atailored map of where you need tobe. The aim of the Rail Alliance isto be your extra pair of hands andto help you to save time.
Innotrans2012
Balfour Beatty Rail has given theCity of Cambridge SwimmingClub Disability Squad a chequefor £1000.
The Squad was founded in 2007to provide a competitive outlet forchildren and adults with a range ofdisabilities.
It is open to disabled swimmersaged nine and over and currentlyhas 12 members who train forseven hours each week.
DisabledSwimmersDonation
“This has been avery successfulyear for BTP andthe rail industry…”ANDy TROTTER,CHiEF CONSTABLE, BTp
Balfour Beatty Railhas given the Cityof CambridgeSwimming ClubDisability Squad acheque for £1000…
12 www.railstaff.co.uk
Bottlenecks have been removedand more escalators installed aspart of a £10m improvementproject at Waterloo.
Passengers and staff will be ableto use four new escalatorsconnected to a 220-metre longbalcony running almost the fullwidth of the station. This newaccess route between Waterlooand Waterloo East, used by acombined 300,000 passengers a
day forms part of a wider plan toprovide more space for passengersat concourse level.
Work at the station, whichstarted in April 2011, has alreadyseen the removal of a number ofretail units from the mainconcourse, further helping torelieve congestion for people usingthe station.
Says Tim Shoveller, managingdirector of the Network Rail andSouth West Trains alliance,‘Waterloo is the busiest station inBritain with more than 90mpassengers a year. As the numberof people using the stationcontinues to rise, we need a radicalsolution to provide the space andfacilities that passengers need. Thenew balcony will help easecongestion and improve thejourneys of millions of people eachyear.’
The scheme is also creating20,000 sq ft of new retail space atfirst floor level, accessed by thebalcony.
Better access forWaterloo
Dalmarnock Station in Glasgow has beennamed Best proposed project at theScottish Design Awards in Glasgow.
A top team from Atkins has designed aradical upgrade of Dalmarnock Station, theprimary transport hub for Glasgow’sCommonwealth Games in 2014. The stationwill be completely remodelled, with areplacement footbridge, platform upgrades,new ticket office and step-free access, whilstcreating a safer station environment withimproved lighting and CCTV.
Says Stan Doyle, Regional Director, Atkins,‘We are thrilled to be involved withDalmarnock’s emerging reconnection to thecity through the transformation of thepresent rail station into an important pieceof public architecture.’
The station will serve three key venues forthe Commonwealth games including thenew National Indoor Sports Arena, the SirChris Hoy Velodrome and Celtic Park.
Dalmarnock design win for Atkins
East Coast has put up a statue of Olympic athlete, Jonathan Edwards,at King’s Cross.
The life-sized sculpture was made entirely from used train parts bysculptor Ptolemy Elrington. Says Jonathan Edwards, ‘The sculpture is verystriking and really took me aback when I first saw it. It’s incredible tothink it was possible to create such a structure from old bits of train, but ithas been crafted brilliantly. I am honoured that East Coast hascommissioned the piece.’
The sculpture will be exhibited at main stations along the East Coastmain line this summer.
Summer statueon tour
www.railstaff.co.uk 13
Jeanette Chippington, goldmedal winning paralympian,joined local leaders and stafffrom First Great Western andNetwork Rail to celebrate SloughRailway Station’s multimillionpound upgrade.
Improvements to the Grade IIlisted station include new lifts andfootbridge, revamped waitingrooms and ticket hall, better toiletsand a redesigned station forecourt.
Says Transport Minister NormanBaker, ‘With the Olympics only twomonths away, I’m pleased thesemajor access improvements atSlough Station are being unveiledtoday. The Coalition Governmentwants everyone to enjoy theOlympics while providing a legacyof better transport for generationsto come. This local scheme willremove barriers to work and leisuretravel for disabled passengers.
‘Nationally, we’ve invested£6.5bn upgrading transport links
for the Games to improve servicesand boost economic development.This is also a great example of keyorganisations - including SloughBorough Council, First GreatWestern, Network Rail and mydepartment - working togethereffectively locally to improvefacilities and meet communityneeds.”
Olympic winfor Slough
James Cook university Hospitalin Middlesbrough looks likegetting its own railway station aspart of a £4.5 million pound planto boost rail use on Teesside.
12 other local stations will berevamped. Says local enterpriseleader, Stephen Catchpole of TeesValley Unlimited, ‘This is excellentnews for Tees Valley. The £4.5
million funding from the LocalSustainable Transport Fund helpsfacilitate the major and longstanding aspiration of (having) arailway station at James CookUniversity Hospital.
This also enables considerabledevelopment across 11 Tees Valleystations already in use – allessential in this first phase of theTees Valley Metro Scheme.’Stations in the scheme includeAllens West, Billingham, GypsyLane, Longbeck, Marske, Marton,Nunthorpe, Redcar Central, RedcarEast, South Bank and Stockton.
New station forMiddlesbrough
The isle of Wight Steam Railwayhas formally opened its newstation building and anextended platform at Wootton.
Parish council leader, Ken Morrisconducted the ceremonysupported by the builders Bob andOllie Mackett, local leaders andrailway volunteers.
The Isle of Wight Steam Railwayoperates a five mile section of theformer Ryde to Newport Railway.The railway plans to installoriginal wooden post signalswhich will enable two trains to useWootton at the same time. A newsiding with a loading bay will bebuilt to house goods wagons.
New station opensat Wootton
STATiONS
“With the olympicsonly two monthsaway, I’m pleasedthese improve-ments at SloughStation are beingunveiled today…”NORMAN BAKER,TRANSpORT MiNiSTER
Mark Hopwood, Patrick Hallgateand James Swindlehurst joinJeanette Chippington.
1905
2012
14 www.railstaff.co.uk
David Biggs, director of propertyat Network Rail, delighteddelegates at the Future ofSustainable Design conferencewith details of retail outlets onstations out performingrecession-struck high streetshops.
‘It’s retail on the way, not in theway,’ says Biggs. For several yearsnow Network Rail Property hasbeen hard at work unlocking thecommercial potential of theindustry’s railway stations. Peoplelike to shop as they travel to andfrom work and the huge footfall atstations is generating greatbusiness opportunities.
Property values riseImportantly railway stations are
now seen as generators of netwealth, health and jobs. Developthe station and see propertyvalues rise and local economicsflourish.
The secret is communityinvolvement and a sense ofownership best illustrated by theJunction Health Centre project,under the arches at ClaphamJunction Station. The new heathcentre was opened last year bylocal MP Jane Ellison and isproving a great success. The newhealth centre is still owned byNetwork Rail.
Continuing the theme ofcommunity responsibly, Crossrailis paying particular attention tothe areas contiguous to newstations. Stuart Croucher ofCrossrail described how newstations on Crossrail will enhancethe urban area they served.
Croucher genially described thethinking of what he calls the men inflowery shirts and how they cameup with stunning plans forFarringdon Station. The historicstation is being given a massiveupgrade to preserve its heritage and
provide space for new Thameslinkand Crossrail services that willmake it one of London’s newesttransport hubs.
Access for All ProgrammeGeoff Hobbs of TfL stressed
London’s reliance on railways, neverbetter illustrated than in this the yearof the London Olympics. Stations arebeing deep cleaned, refurbished andimproved under the Access for AllProgramme. Feras Alshaker ofSouthern and Paul Beaty-Pownall ofBPR Architects Ltd stressed the needto work with the community, askinglocal people what else they want fortheir local stations.
The conference threw new lighton the reasons behind Britain’ssuccess at developing new and oldrailway stations. What is becomingincreasingly clear is theimportance of a transport hub asmuch more than simply adeparture and arrival matrix.
Great commercial valueOften situated in town and city
centres, at the heart of thecommunities they serve, railwaystations represent greatcommercial value as well as anopportunity to display the socialresponsibility and communityinvolvement for which the railwayindustry is already famed.
The Future of Sustainable Designwas held at the Excel Centre inLondon and organised by MurrayMedia.
Future of Sustainable Design
The conferencethrew new light onthe reasonsbehind Britain’ssuccess atdeveloping newand old railwaystations…
STATiONS
(Left to right)Malcolm Prentice, CEO Garrandalejoins Gavin McMurray and JonBentley of television’s The GadgetShow, to present the FOSDAwards.
(Left to right) Gavin McMurray,Alan Thompson, GrahamTomlinson, Stuart Croucher, TimBellenger and ThorbjornBengtsson.
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16 www.railstaff.co.uk
Big hearted railway staff at FirstCapital Connect helped organisea seaside special in celebrationof the end of weekend and nighttime engineering work on theThameslink project.
The bucket and spade specialtook children from Bedford, Lutonand London to Brighton by rail.Many of the children had not beenon a train before. In Brighton the
youngsters took part in events laidon by the Brighton Fringe whichFCC is sponsoring and enjoyed afine day of sunshine on the beachand pier.
The Fringe also provided on-board children’s entertainers –including a clown, face paintersand a magician. For 3½ years theBedford-Brighton, Wimbledon andSutton route has been closed every
night and almost every weekendacross central London forThameslink Programme upgradework.
MPs Richard Fuller, Gavin Shukerand Simon Hughes waved off thegroup and Rail Minister NormanBaker greeted the party at Brightonstation (pictured above). SaysNorman Baker, ‘The ThameslinkProgramme has already delivered
some good improvements: longer12-carriage trains, vastly improvedstations in central London, and asignalling system in preparationfor the future 24 trains-per-hourservice that will double capacityacross central London.
‘First Capital Connect’s free traintrip to the seaside is a great way tocelebrate this achievement and theend of an important phase ofcross-London engineering work.’
Railway staff volunteered to helpout with the train. Says FCCManaging Director Neal Lawson,‘We were delighted to be able togive so many people – almost 500 –a free trip to the seaside. Staffmanning the train gave their timefree of charge and we were gratefulfor Network Rail’s support.’
Seaside special celebrates Thameslink
Railway staff and supportershave been congratulating theDerby Telegraph, which has wontwo awards – largely as a resultof its part in the fight to buildthe Thameslink fleet atLitchurch Lane.
The daily newspaper wonCampaigning Newspaper of theYear for its Bombardier campaignand Steve Hall was named asEditor of the Year.
HomeDerbyaward
Porth County victoryAspiring young footballers fromacross Rhondda Cynon Taffhave been fighting for a place inthe grand final of the NoMessin’ Railway Safety Cup.
The five-a-side tournament,organised by British TransportPolice (BTP), Network Rail andArriva Trains Wales, saw teamsfrom 10 comprehensive schoolstake to the pitch. Overall winnersof the regional heat, which tookplace at the University ofGlamorgan playing fields,Trefforest, were Porth County, whodefeated Gartholwg in the final.The grand final takes place onTuesday, 19 June.
Says PCSO Matt Grieve, whohelped organise the RhonddaCynon Taff tournament, ‘It was afantastic day. The weather wasexcellent and the standard offootball equally good. All thepupils thoroughly enjoyedthemselves on the pitch and alsoasked some really pertinentquestions during the safety
presentation. The feedback fromteachers throughout the day wasextremely positive.’
The aim of the event is topromote alternative activities for
youngsters to discourage themfrom trespassing on the railway.
Pictured with winners Porth Countyis PCSO Matt Grieve.
www.railstaff.co.uk 17
NEWS
Thousands of extra seats will beavailable this summer to copewith a huge increase in demandfor travel on Virgin pendolinotrains between Glasgow Centraland London Euston.
Three extra trains with at least439 seats per train will operateevery weekday in each directionbetween the cities on key dates inJuly, August and September inaddition to the normal 13 each way.
Pendolino plus
A moving international railfreight motorway comes a stepnearer this summer.
Europorte ran a trial lorry trailerservice from Antwerp to Barking
via the Channel Tunnel and HighSpeed One on May 21-22. Thepiggyback train consisted of a pairof Ewals Cargo Care megatrailers,conveying Vauxhall car parts,
mounted on a Sdggmiss two-section pocket wagon.
Europorte Channel, Eurotunnel’srailfreight subsidiary, plans tostart regular services betweenAntwerp and Barking later thisyear. Ewals also confirmed itwould like to switch to rail as analternative to current ferryoperations.
The new service carriescomplete trailers, including
wheels, flatbeds and containerloads. Starting its journey at theCombinant terminal in Antwerp,the train travelled to Calais viaLille. At Fréthun a EuroporteChannel Class 92 loco took overfor the run to Barking.
A pair of class 31 dieselsprovided power for the final milebetween the HS1 exchange sidingsand the John G Russell intermodalterminal.
High Speed 1 in trailer test
Bridgezone Ltd has opened anew operational base inilkeston, Derbyshire.
Says Associate Director PaulCapener, ‘We are very pleased to bemoving into this new facility whichwe have taken with growth in mind.With the increase in storage spaceand a well equipped office for ourengineers to undertake their report
writing, assessment and designwork, we are positioning ourselveswell for future development of ourbusiness in the Midlands.’
Bridgezone employs engineerswith expertise in difficult accessexaminations using diving, ropeaccess and confined spacemethods as well as moderntechnology such as sonar.
Ilkeston debutfor Bridgezone
18 www.railstaff.co.uk
The Rail Freight Group is urgingthe Office of Rail Regulation tothink again about proposals forhigher freight charges.
Rail freight remains one of thebest success stories of railwayprivatisation. Says Tony Berkeley,RFG Chairman, ‘The rail freightsector has been growingsuccessfully in recent years, andcustomer and investor confidenceis strong. These proposals risk
destabilising this, and turningcustomers back to road, with itssimple and straightforward pricingstructure….ORR needs to look fordifferent ways of achieving itsobjectives that are less damagingto rail freight operators and theircustomers.’
Proposals include levying anadditional charge on operatorsmoving power station coal, ironore and spent nuclear fuel, which
could amount to an additional£60m year. ORR’s proposals alsoinclude making the chargesdifferent for each geographic area,as well as for each locomotive andwagon type, and introducingscarcity or capacity charges.
plans for a new railmaintenance centre in Derbyhave been submitted byNetwork Rail.
The new depot will bringtogether up to 400 maintenancestaff from existing offices anddepots across the east midlands.Says Martin Frobisher (picturedbelow), route managing director,‘This maintenance depot is centralto our plans to help sustain amodern, reliable railway in theeast midlands.
‘By bringing our frontline teamsinto a single location we can betterplan and resource themaintenance of the railway. It willalso allow more focused, rapid andflexible response to incidents. Thesite of the new depot sitsalongside the 70-acre Chaddesdentriangle which has beenearmarked for development.’
ChaddesdenChallenge Freight
Fear
Merseytravel is launching abook club to encourage peopleto read on their daily journeysto and from work.
Says Dr Josie Billington of the
University of Liverpool, ‘We knowthere are many benefits to readingregularly, even if it is just smallamounts. Reading isn’t just aboutliteracy, it is also crucial for oursense of wellbeing and our abilityto understand our own lives.
‘There’s something about
reading, especially readingliterature, which makes people feelgood. It’s at once stimulating,enjoyable and relaxing, giving usthe capacity to think about theworld, offering us practicalguidance and opening up ourimaginations.’
The campaign will also beencouraging people to joinMerseytravel’s virtual book club onTwitter @mtbookclub, andeveryone who does will beautomatically entered into a freemonthly prize draw to win aKindle.
Read all about it
“The rail freightsector has beengrowingsuccessfully inrecent years, andcustomer andinvestorconfidence isstrong…”TONy BERKELEy,CHAiRMAN,RAiL FREiGHT GROup
www.railstaff.co.uk 19
passengers using Londonpaddington’s first class loungeon June 1st were treated to ahigh tea of champagne and cakeas part of First Great Western’sDiamond Jubilee celebrations.
To add an extra sparkle to theevent, FGW arranged for thespecially reliveried DiamondJubilee HST power car to be stabledoutside the lounge, prior to itworking a service to Oxford.
Paddington is famous as the placewhere the Brown family foundPaddington bear. The hapless illegal
immigrant arrived there havingstowed away on a lifeboat from Peru.
The bear’s real name is Pastusoand he, like the Queen, has twobirthdays. The first on 25th June,followed by a second on 25thDecember.
A bronze statue of PaddingtonBear can be found on the station.
Bear necessitiesfor Jubilee
Former England and Newcastleunited striker Alan Shearerjoined ‘Queen of the BlaydonRaces’ Sheila Shorrick-Doddsand managing director KarenBoswell to name East Coast’s91115 ‘Blaydon Races’ in honourof the song’s 150th anniversary.
The Geordie Ridley songcommemorates a famous horserace held from 1861 in Blaydon,near Gateshead. Says Alan Shearer,‘Blaydon Races is a much-lovedNorth East anthem, best-knownthrough its associations withNewcastle United football club,whose fans have made it theirown. From my own playing days atSt James’s Park I know howinspiring the sound of over 50,000Geordie voices singing BlaydonRaces is. It’s the ultimate signature
tune of the Tyne, and now itsname will be seen throughout theEast Coast Main Line.’
Tyneside band the Longsandssang the song at NewcastleCentral. Says East Coast ManagingDirector Karen Boswell, ‘We aredelighted to name an East Coasttrain in honour of the 150thanniversary of such an iconicanthem, which for thousands ofNorth East people is the song oftheir home.’ East Coast is alsostaging a competition – describewhat the Blaydon Races means toyou in 25 words and win a‘Blaydon Races’ nameplate pluscommemorative badges andcomplimentary First Class returntravel for four between any twostations served directly by EastCoast trains.
Angelica engineers rail successAngelica Momodu, 18, VitalRail’s first female apprentice, isurging other girls to take up railengineering. ‘i’m really enjoyingmy apprenticeship and itdoesn’t bother me that i’m theonly girl in my group.’
Most of my friends are male andit’s all good fun,’ says Angelica whostarted with Vital last December.Angelica, employed by Vital Rail, iscompleting her Apprenticeship inRail Engineering at Epping Ongar,where the group is working on aproject to maintain a six-mileheritage railway site.
Vital Skills Training set anambitious target to recruit andtrain 270 rail apprentices in 2012and is already a third of the waythere with 88 apprentices working
on projects across the country. Rob Clarke, apprentice trainer at
Vital Skills Training said, ‘The railsector consists of a much olderworkforce and this group of youngapprentices is like a new lease oflife that will secure the skills andknowledge needed to support themany infrastructure projects thatare planned for the future.’
Blaydon Races
“I’m really enjoyingmy apprenticeshipand it doesn’tbother me that I’mthe only girl…”ANGELiCA MOMODu
First Great Western’s projectmanager for sales and marketingPolly Robertson serves champagneto a passenger in Paddington’sfirst class lounge.
NEWS
20 www.railstaff.co.uk
A memorial to railway workershas been unveiled inStaffordshire.
The memorial, topped with aClass 8F steam engine carved inblack granite, marks the courage ofrailway people down the years,many of whom gave their lives inservice of the industry.
Sam Reed, of the BritishTransport Pensioners Federationsaid, ‘A national memorial to thememory of rail workers is longoverdue. Whilst many lives havebeen lost in times of conflict over
the years, this memorialrecognises much more than that. Itis also to the memory of thosekilled in the construction of therailway, those who have lost theirlives subsequently in tragicaccidents and moreover to allthose who have worked to providethe railway we enjoy today and forthose who will take the industryforward in the future.’
The memorial, at the NationalArboretum in Alrewas,Staffordshire, was unveiled by SirBob Reid, former chairman of
British Rail, accompanied by IanDudson, Lord-Lieutenant ofStaffordshire.
‘We want this to be a placewhere people can come and reflectin quiet solitude, and pay theirrespects whether it be to lovedones, friends or simply the unsungheroes from across the industry,’said Sam Reed.
The plinth depicts men andwomen at work on the railwaysand also carries the coats of armsof the Great Western RailwayCompany, London North Eastern
Railway, London, Midland &Scottish and the Southern Railwayand the Lion Wheel of the BritishTransport Commission and thedouble arrow national railwaysymbol.
The memorial is situated just offthe Arboretum’s Millennium Way,in sight of the Birmingham toDerby railway line.
RailwayMemorial
The first of Chiltern’srefurbished Mark iii stocktrains, hauled by a class 67, hasentered service.
The new trains - there will be 20coaches available by December -will augment the LondonMarylebone-Birmingham MoorStreet services. The new stylesilver trains have power operatedsliding plug doors and spaciousentrance vestibules to speedpassengers on and off the train.The upgrade work is beingundertaken by Wabtec Rail Ltd ofDoncaster.
Silver service for Chiltern
Lord prescott has joinedcampaigners working to reopenthe Beverley-york railway line.
Says campaign chairman, GeorgeMcManus, ‘I’m delighted that LordPrescott has agreed to help out. Asa long-term member his supportwill be really important in movingour campaign onto the next stage.’Despite being well-used the lineclosed in November 1965.
PrescottbacksBeverleyLine
“We want this to bea place wherepeople can comeand reflect in quietsolitude, and paytheir respects…”SAM REED,BRiTiSH TRANSpORTpENSiONERS FEDERATiON
www.railstaff.co.uk 21
Greenlight forYork OpsCentreCity authorities in york haveagreed Network Rail’s plan tobuild a new rail operating centreand workforce developmentschool close to york station.
Says Phil Verster, RouteManaging Director, ‘This decisionis great news for York and therailway. These operating and
training facilities will allow us todeliver a modern, efficient railwaywhile at the same timemaintaining York’s position as aproud rail city.
‘The centres will retain jobs inthe city and, over time, see all ofour rail operations for the LNEroute consolidated on this site.
The operating centre is thelargest of just 14 proposed centresacross Britain and will bring theexpertise and technology we needto operate the route into a singlelocation.
Meanwhile the investment inmodern training facilities willmake sure our rail employees
remain among the best in theworld.’
The land identified fordevelopment is known as theengineer’s triangle and liesbetween York station and Holgatebridge.
Heathrow Express hasrelaunched its prestigious fleetwith a smarter look and oneplus one seating inside.
Heathrow Express, with itsmulti-lingual staff and topperformance statistics, remainsone of the best and fastest ways
to access Heathrow Airport. Newexterior livery has been addedand new high intensity LED headand tail lights fitted. The serviceuses Class 332 electric multipleunits made by CAF/Siemens.Heathrow Express is whollyowned by BAA.
New look
The first trainload of earth andspoil from Crossrail’s tunnelshas left west London and beendelivered to Northfleet in Kent.
The 492 tonnes of earth wasmoved in a 13 wagon train fromCrossrail’s Westbourne Park site.Over the next six weeks, two trainsa week will run a return journeybetween Crossrail’s tunnel entrancenear Paddington and Northfleet.
Later in the summer the trainswill increase in size to 27 wagonsand run three times a day. At thepeak of tunnelling up to fivefreight trains a day will operatefrom Westbourne Park carrying atotal of 7,000 tonnes of earth. The
first shipload of earth will bedelivered to Wallasea Island(pictured below) in Essex later thissummer and used to build a birdsanctuary.
Crossrail spoiltakes wing
NEWS
22 www.railstaff.co.uk
Chess match special Franks heads USIC
Railway staff played a lead rolein carrying the Olympic Torcharound Britain.
FirstGroup’s Engineering Director,Clive Burrows, carried the OlympicTorch in Chippenham, Wiltshire. ‘Tobe involved in such an importantand historic event was an honourand a privilege. The occasion wasmagnificent and one that I will
savour and reflect upon with pridefor the rest of my life,’ says notedcharity fund raiser, Clive. ‘I findworking with charities exceptionallyenjoyable and rewarding.’
The torch travelled along theSevern Valley Railway and wascarried on the train from Bewdleyto Kidderminster by 43-year-oldChristopher Stokes from
Kidderminster. Station managerfor Staines and Windsor, FrankRoberts, who has worked for SouthWest Trains for five years carriedthe torch at his home town ofSwanage in Dorset.
A former soldier and keen fund-raiser, Frank Roberts has raised£100,000 for charity over the years.Mortlake station clerical officer
Daniel Opoku, SWT, ran with thetorch at Erith. The flame travelledin a miner’s lantern on theSnowdon Mountain Railway andwas carried to the summit by SirChris Bonnington.
Rail Welcomefor OlympicTorch
“To be involved in suchan important andhistoric event was anhonour and aprivilege…”CLiVE BuRROWS,ENGiNEERiNG DiRECTOR,FiRSTGROup
A team from Railsport GB puton a brave and sustained fightat the uSiC ChessChampionships in the holidayresort of Albena in Bulgaria lastmonth.
Railsport GB finished a creditable14th out of seventeen teams.Hosts, Bulgaria, which included anumber of grand masters in itsteam, took the title by thenarrowest of margins, 77pts toIndia’s 76½. Russia was 3rd with66pts and Kazakhstan 5th with 62pts. Great Britain in 14th placescored 33½ pts.
Congratulations to all inRailsport GB’s team:• Graham Bolt, Network Rail• Peter Eldridge, South West Trains• Trevor Jones, SWT (retired)• Alan Giles, Virgin Trains• Nicholas Mahoney, DB Schenker
Rail (UK) • Mike Broad, Network Rail• Barry Kocan, South West Trains• Dennis Thompson, Serco Dock-
lands.
David Franks, Chairman ofRailsport GB, is the newpresident of uSiC.
David was unanimously electedby the twenty four members of theUSIC Congress held in Romeearlier in May. A keen supporter ofUSIC, David has been a member ofRailsport’s Angling Team for morethan 20 years. He follows in thefootsteps of Paul Watkinson, GroupPersonnel Director British RailwaysBoard, who was President of USICfrom 1992 to 1994.
USIC stand for Union SportiveInternationale des Cheminots –literally Railstaff internationalsporting union. The 2012 RailsportGames will take place in StanleyPark, Blackpool, on Saturday 23rdand Sunday 24th June. Rail sportscontestants are concluding theirtraining for the Olympic curtain
raiser. Sports include 10k and 5kFoot Races, Football, Cricket,Badminton, Chess, Darts, Golf,Netball, Rounders, Table Tennis,Tenpin Bowling and Volleyball.
NEWS
www.railstaffawards.com 23
RAiLSTAFF AWARDS
Getting the job done ahead ofschedule is a pre-requisite ofmodern business.
Project managers routinely use thephrase, ‘delivered on budget and ontime.’ The old saying, ‘No time likethe present’ contrasts well with thelaconic American put down: ‘You’rea day late and dollar short.’
Prevarication, putting things off,can be as crippling to business asit is to private life. ‘I wish I haddone that while I still had time,’ isa constant reproach at weddings,sports days and funerals. ‘Ishould have asked her to dance.’‘Should have phoned, told himhow much I cared…’ Too often it’stoo late.
Never been easierLife is busier now than ever.
However, new technology means ithas never been easier to nominatea friend or colleague for theRailStaff Awards.
The original telecoms satellite,Early Bird, made it possible to talkto people on the other side of theAtlantic and pioneered a new eraof quick and easy communications.Yet it remains all too easy to putoff making that call, sharing thatmeal or going to that sports day.
Talk to almost anybody over 50and they’ll tell you it’s justphenomenal how fast life chasesby. High performing entrepreneursalmost always say the hardest partof growing the business is thechildren’s birthdays missed, thelate nights in the office when youknew they were waiting for thatbed time story you never finished.
Forgotten wedding anniversaries,friendships overlooked, familyquarrels never resolved beforedeath and the absence of friendsafter a lifetime working together ishard to take. These milestonesassume a huge significance onceyou pass them.
Showing you careToo often we are just too tired to
do anything objective about thepassage of time. And yet time canbe cheated, not by days or minutesperhaps but by simple actions.Showing you care takes a fewminutes and a little effort.
Writing out a nomination for theRailStaff Awards is simple andquick but its effects last a lotlonger. It is there as a permanentthank you. Don’t hang about until
it is too late. Make yournominations online now atwww.railstaffawards.com.
Also make sure of your place atthe RailStaff Awards 2012 bybooking tickets and tables nowunder our Earlybird discountsystem. Early Bird might have beena satellite but don’t leave yourbooking - or nominations - up inthe air. Act now and save money.
For more details visitwww.railstaffawards.com
It’s time to say a great big thank you
in association with
www.railstaffawards.com
NOMINATE ONLINE TODAY... NEW
WEBSIT
E
Writing out a nomination for theRailStaff Awards is simple andquick but its effects last a lot longer.
It is there as a permanent thank you.Don’t hang about until it is too late.
24 www.railstaffawards.com
In partnership with
A registered charity.*Please see our website for latest call charges.
Samaritans / Network Rail Partnership are proud to be sponsoring
the RailStaff Awards
McGinley Support Services are pleased to be sponsoring
RailStaff Infrastructure Person of the Year
T: 0845 543 5953
Experts IN support servicesfor infrastructure markets
working together
www.mcginley.co.uk
CDI AndersElite is a specialist supplier of permanent, contract and temporary recruitment services to the rail industry. Our services cover professional,technical and safety critical labour.For more information about our rail recruitment services, please call one of our dedicated consultants:London office for technical roles: 0207 680 3100Bristol office for safety critical roles: 0117 922 1441
Morson Group PLC operates through two main subsidiaries,
Morson International, providing specialist engineering and
technical personnel and Morson Projects Limited, which
provides outsourced engineering and project management
design services.
Bridgeway Consulting – Leading by example
RAiLSTAFF AWARDS
Bridgeway Consulting Ltd issupporting the Rail Safety personof the year at the RailStaff Awards2012.
With safety at the forefront of alloperations, Bridgeway Consultinghas always aimed to provide a safe,effective and professional service toits clients.
A proactive approach isunderpinned by a detailed director-led management process thatutilises a number of methods toensure safety is always a priority.
With extensive engineeringexpertise Bridgeway Consultingprovides a dynamic and innovativeservice, and is equipped toundertake small or large tasksefficiently, professionally and mostimportant of all, safely. Thisapproach continues to provideBridgeway Consulting’s clients withpeace of mind when they engagewith them on key projects.
Bridgeway Consulting supports a
proactive and positive safety andbehaviour culture within the railindustry and believes that theRailstaff Awards - Rail Safety Personof the Year category is important forthe industry as it rewards those wholead by example.
Says Steve Diksa, AssuranceServices Director, ‘Developing aculture in which the workforceprioritises safety can be difficult butit is nonetheless still achievable. TheRailstaff Awards rewards those whostand up and encourage goodpractice in the rail industry and weare delighted to support this as well.’
Bridgeway Consulting’s diverseportfolio of services enables theirclients to use them for all theirproject needs in a one stop shopmanner. Some of their key servicesinclude:• Assurance and Compliance
Services• Permanent Way Engineering• Site & Ground Investigation
Planning• Safety Critical Personnel • AC Isolation Services• On-site Security• Rail Training and Assessments.
Pino De Rosa - BridgewayConsulting’s managing director,says, ‘Our range of serviceshighlights our diversity and also ourability to provide a managed serviceto our client. Our belief is that wewill be able to offer both cost andtime savings to Network Rail andtheir suppliers as they continue tofind ways to deliver better value formoney.’
Key points to remember aboutBridgeway Consulting: • Network Rail Principal
Contractor license holder• Sound safety record on
operational railway infrastructure
• National provider• Exemplary reputation for
delivery• Continuous striving for
improvement• Highly experienced and
motivated staff• Team approach to ensuring
value for money solutions • Commitment to timescales and
client objectives • Accountability and transparency
in client relationships.
26 www.railstaffawards.com
www.vital-rail.com
Specialist provider of integrated
services for the Rail, Light Rail
and Underground infrastructures.
We are proud to be a first tier supplier to the majority of the
UK’s rail infrastructure companies, delivering work packages
Network Rail is proud to sponsor the RailSta4 Awards 2011It’s your hard work – the individuals and teams within our industry – that’s helping us build a better railway for Britain.
From pioneering investment and development projects, to innovations that make everyday services faster, smarter and safer, we believe in recognising the excellence that’s enabling the transformation of our network.
That’s why we’re very proud to once again sponsor this year’s RailStaA Awards.
Helping Britain run better networkrail.co.uk
Network Rail is proud to sponsor the RailSta4 awards 2012
It’s the hard work of individuals and teams within our industry that’s helping us build a better railway for Britain. From pioneering investment and development projects, to innovations that make everyday services faster, smarter and safer, we believe in recognising the excellence that’s enabling the transformation of our network.
That’s why we’re very proud to once againsponsor this year’s RailStaA Awards.
FirstGroup is the proud sponsorof the Lifetime AchievementAward at this year’s RailStaffAwards.
The company is Britain’s largestrail operator carrying more than290 million passengers per annum.It operates First Great Western,First Capital Connect, FirstTransPennine Express, FirstScotRail, First Hull Trains andLondon Tramlink.
It runs regional and commuterservices, open access and light railoperations as well as high speedinter-city trains and overnightsleepers – everything from localbranch line stopping services tolong distance express trains. Thecompany has pre-qualified for theInter City West Coast, GreatWestern, Thameslink and EssexThameside franchises.
FirstGroup is also one of Britain’sbiggest bus operators runningmore than one in five of all local
bus services. In North America it isthe largest provider of studenttransportation with some 57,000yellow school buses and operatesthe iconic Greyhound coachservices.
Vernon Barker, Head ofFirstGroup’s Rail Division, said:“We are delighted to be sponsorsof an award recognising the peoplewho have invested so much oftheir own lives to deliveringexcellence in the rail industry.”
He continued: “At FirstGroup, wehave the pleasure of working withexcellent colleagues who recognisethe strength of putting ourcustomers at the centre ofeverything we do. As I visit depots,stations and HQ’s across ouroperating companies, every day Iam reminded of the fantastic jobmy colleagues do. I am constantlyoverwhelmed by the dedication andcommitment displayed and thewillingness to go that extra mile.
“I hear of Station colleaguesturning up to work four hoursearly so they can shovel snowfrom the platform before themorning peak; engineersperforming miracles to make ourtrains more sustainable; customerfacing staff going to extraordinarylengths to satisfy our customers;and all colleagues working harderthan ever before to make therailways as safe as possible.
“The railway, for many of us inthe industry, is a way of life.Unlike most other sectors it is not
uncommon to find colleagues with30, 40 and 50 years service. Thereare thousands of people, includingmany at First, who have served therail industry faithfully over manyyears.”
Vernon concluded: “The LifetimeAchievement Award reflects thepassion and commitment of thosemen and women who havededicated their careers and lives tomanning our trains, selling tickets,operating signals and building andmaintaining trains and track. Theyare the real heroes of the industry.”
FirstGroup sponsors Lifetime Achievement
RAiLSTAFF AWARDS
28 www.railstaffawards.com
www.railstaffawards.com 29
Delighted to sponsorDelighted to sponsorDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttttttttttttttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Rail Manager of the year 2012
» A professional network» Area events» Academic qualifications» Professional Development» CPD schemes
We provide all our We provide all our WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pppppppppppppppppppppppppprrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddddddddddddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll oooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmembers with members with mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssssssssssssssss wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh access to…access to…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss tttttttttttttttttttooooooooooooooooooooo………………
Our membership includes anyone involved in railway operations in the UK.
To find out what are you missing out on visit…www.railwayoperators.org
The TransportBenevolent Fund is
proud to sponsorthe Station Staff
of the Year awardagain this year.
With the help of the TOCs,Network Rail and other
employers throughout the publictransport industry we now
have 36,000 members.For just £1 a week a variety of
benefits are available to you, yourpartner and dependent children.
The Transport Benevolent Fund is backingthe Station Staff of the year Award at thisyear’s RailStaff Awards.
Says Tom O’Connor, managing director ofthe Rail Media Group, which is organising theRailStaff Awards, ‘For most passengers theirfirst point of contact with the railway isthrough rail staff at stations. Often overlookedat a busy terminus or commuter stations theyare the heroes quietly helping passengers ontheir way.
‘Station staff make great ambassadors forthe industry and we owe them a tremendousdebt. It is a special privilege to have as asponsor, the Transport Benevolent Fund,which has done so much down the years tohelp railway people and their dependants.
‘The RailStaff Awards is about the peoplewho deliver the railways. The TBF is a charitywhich has been there for many years helpingthe same people and their families.’
The Transport Benevolent Fund (TBF) is aregistered charity and offers a wide range ofbenefits including health, legal advice,convalescence and cash help to its membersand their dependants. The TBF is run by
Trustees who understand the industry andthe needs of staff.
TBF is here to support those who work inthe public transport industry when they are inneed, hardship or distress. Almost anyonewho works in the industry may join TBF. Ifyou are a member of the TBF, you may chooseto continue your membership in retirement. Itis not possible to join once you have retired.
Contributions to the TBF are £1 a week.Please contact TBF for more details. When youdie your family will normally continue to betreated as dependants in accordance with theTBF rules.
Says Chris Godbold, Director of the Fund,‘Many of our members have been involved in,or started their career at, a railway station.TBF exists to help all people in the railwayindustry. We are pleased to be involved in theRailStaff Awards and to help celebrate theachievements of ordinary men and womenwho make this such a great industry.’
The Transport Benevolent Fund wasoriginally established to help families ofLondon public transport workers serving inthe First World War. A permanent trust was
set up in 1923. TBF has been helping publictransport workers for nearly 90 years. Inrecent years TBF has shown extensive growthnationally and now has members in mostparts of England, Scotland and Wales.
RAiLSTAFF AWARDS
TBF backs Station Staff of the Year
30 www.railstaffawards.com
RAiLSTAFF AWARDS
NEWS
www.railstaff.co.uk 31
Adonis blasts HS2 delay
phil Weaver, a volunteer guardon the West Somerset Railway,has been celebrating 30 yearson the railway.
Mr Weaver, who runs a nearbycampsite and is a notedcommunity leader in Porlock, sayshe enjoys his job.
Passengers range from the Dukeof Edinburgh to film stars like AnaFriel. Part of the movie, ‘The LandGirls’ was filmed on the line.
‘I don’t know where the last 30years have gone! I have had somereally good times,’ says Phil, 53.
WestSomersetGuardcelebrates
A charity partnership set up bythe Samaritans and NetworkRail has itself won an award.
The Samaritans/Network RailPartnership won the CharityPartnership Award in London atthe Business Charity Awards 2012for its work in suicide preventionon the railways. The award ismade for the best partnership
between a company and acharity in sectors other thanfinancial, professional, retail orleisure.
Samaritans approached NetworkRail with a potential partnershipdeal: in return for becoming apartner, the charity would use itsknowledge of suicide prevention toaddress this particular problem on
the railways. The partnership waslaunched in January 2010 with theaim of reducing the number ofsuicides on the railways by 20 percent by 2015.
Network Rail has committed toinvesting £1m a year in the firstthree years of the partnership. Themoney will be spent in a variety ofways, including training staff to
deal with potential suicides anddeveloping a call-out service thatinvolves Samaritans volunteersvisiting stations to offer support tovulnerable people and staff.
The partnership has launched anew category at this year’sRailStaff Awards. The NetworkRail/Samaritans Partnership issupporting the Lifesaver Awardand nominations are open now.
Former transport secretary,Andrew Adonis, has called forimmediate action on HighSpeed Two, which was given thego ahead in January.
The project was not included inthe recent Queen’s Speech. SaysLord Adonis, ‘If infrastructureprojects are going to happen theyneed someone who is going todrive them forward, and thatsimply isn’t present. There hasbeen endless dither and delay…There should have been a Bill forHS2 in the Queen’s Speech.’
“If infrastructureprojects are goingto happen theyneed someone todrive themforward…”LORD ANDREW ADONiS
Good Samaritans win awardThe partnershipwas launched inJanary 2010 withthe aim ofreducing thenumber ofsuicides on therailways by 20 percent by 2015…
32 www.railstaff.co.uk
Richard McClean runs two verydifferent rail operations.undaunted he applies the samesporting leadership principles tothe Tyne and Wear Metro as hedoes to Grand Central.
McClean knew his days of coxingeight women rowers on the RiverThames were over when he foundhis backside wouldn’t fit in thecox’s seat of their new boat. SaysRichard, ‘I said: Girls, there comesa time when you need a youngerman.’
That was about 15 years ago.McClean, now 48, is managingdirector of DB Regio Tyne andWear, which operates the Tyne andWear Metro system on behalf ofPassenger Transport ExecutiveNexus, and of Grand Central, theArriva company which operates anintercity service betweenSunderland, Bradford and London.
Grand Central anticipatescarrying one million passengerjourneys a year and employs morethan 120 staff. The Tyne and WearMetro serves 40 million passengersa year and employs 510 people. Itremains McClean’s main focustaking up the majority of his time.
An affable UlstermanWe meet in his offices in a red
brick mock Georgian buildingsqueezed between two sets oftracks in the Metro’s depot at
Regents Park in north Newcastle.McClean, an affable Ulsterman,who retains only the faintest ofBelfast burrs, has done some ofthe most challenging jobs on theUK’s railways. His most importantleadership lessons were learntcoxing rowing eights.
‘It’s probably the bestmanagement training that I’veever done. You’re in anextraordinary position; first of allyou are literally in the driving seatand you’re the only person whocan see what’s going on.
‘So you are setting the strategyand steering the course and you’vegot to communicate all of that toeight people, only one of whomcan actually see you and usingonly your voice and you have eightpeople who have got to workabsolutely together. You’ve got tofind a way of communicating tothem that takes them on to a levelof physical exertion that theydidn’t think they could do.’
He took up coxing in Cambridgewhere he went in 1983 to readEngineering, sponsored by BritishRail, under its engineeringmanagement trainee scheme.‘Itwas the most fantastic structureddevelopment programme foryoung engineers, balancingpractical shop floor experience inthe main works in Derby with theacademic stuff in term time.’
“...somewhere I could goand do real engineering...”
It was his passion forengineering that steered himtowards a railway career. ‘For me, itwas a development opportunity. Itwas somewhere I could go and doreal engineering and do it in anenvironment where there werepeople. I was never going to beinterested in a drawing office or afactory. There’s something soabsolutely real about railways.
‘There are very few otheractivities, from an engineeringpoint of view, where you take yourcustomers and you actually putthem on the production line. Mostengineers are able to shuffle theirless successful outputs away into aback shed and the customer neverknows about them. For us, ourproduction line is in the public eyeand our customers experience allof our problems very directly andthat gives it a massive degree ofrealism and a real spice to it all.’
Engineering Councilof ATOC
His experience on the BRprogramme meant that later in hiscareer, when he was chairman ofthe Engineering Council of ATOC,he became a keen advocate ofprofessional developmentschemes operated across thewhole industry, even though the
Peter Jackson talks to Richard McClean,managing director of DB Regio Tyne and Wear
“somewhere Icould go and doreal engineering”
www.railstaff.co.uk 33
iNTERViEW
It was his passionfor engineeringthat steered himtowards a railwaycareer…
industry is now made up of somany different companies. Theabsence of such a programme, heargues, was apparent in theimmediate aftermath ofprivatisation.
‘At British Rail I had theopportunity to go and see a wholevariety of different engineeringdisciplines and areas of activityranging from night shift servicingthrough to writing tenders andspecifications, design work andmanufacturing because we were afully integrated organisation. Evenon the rolling stock side, HSTswere designed by British Rail, theywere manufactured by British Railand were maintained by BritishRail.
‘Things like the ATOCEngineering Development schemeare so important because no onecompany can give a developingengineer exposure to all thoseactivities but with a co-ordinatedprogramme where all the differentcompanies involved in theindustry participate we can stillgive people the opportunities to goand get involved.’
At British Rail he was a depotmanager for Network Southeastand rose through a variety ofsenior management positions.After privatisation he worked forLTS, GNER and National Expressbefore DB Regio and Arriva.
‘First real leadership role’Career highlights include his
time on the Chiltern Line in theearly 1990s. In what Richarddescribes as his `first realleadership role’ he was involvedwith the introduction of the Class165 Turbo fleet.
‘What that really embedded inmy psyche was that if you can geta locally based team of people whounderstand their market place,their customers and theiroperating environment and givethem the right hardware or kitthrough investment they cantransform the worst performingoperation into one that can leadthe industry - and you can do itvery quickly.’
The introduction of the Class165s and station redevelopmenttransformed the line. ‘For me, itcemented the things I’d learnt inmy training: it’s about the people,it’s about the processes, and it isabout the hardware. You need tohave all three in balance.
Engaged and positive‘You need to have people
engaged and positive about whatthey are doing, they need to becompetent and confident, but youneed to be organised and have aplan to underpin it, enthusiasmisn’t enough. Also, you can beheroic and enthusiastic and have a
good plan, but if your kit doesn’twork, you’re going to reallystruggle.’
He went on to work on theLondon, Tilbury and Southend,LTS. Again, resignalling and newrolling stock transformed the lineand reinforced the lessons learnton the Chiltern Line. As c2c it nowregularly tops performance andsatisfaction tables.
McClean heads up two quitedifferent organisations withinDeutsche Bahn–owned Arriva - DBRegio Tyne & Wear, which twoyears ago won the contract tooperate Tyne & Wear Metro, onbehalf of Nexus; and, morerecently, open access operatorGrand Central, acquired by Arrivalast November.
£385m refurbishmentThe Metro is currently undergoing
a £385m refurbishment to replace,repair and renew infrastructure andequipment. In return for fundingthis, the government wanted Nexusto demonstrate value for money.The result was putting theoperation out to tender which ledto 13 bids, of which DB Regio’s wasthe winner.
Once more McClean is involvedin the refurbishment and renewalof a rail system with DB Regioplanning its operations to allowNexus to get access to the
34 www.railstaff.co.uk
iNTERViEW
infrastructure. So far so good:passenger research reveals generalsatisfaction with the newarrangements.
‘Punctuality is up, customersatisfaction is up, fraudulent travelis down, the measured quality ofthe stations and the Metro cars areup. So, between ourselves andNexus, we are running the railwayto a higher standard, while at thesame time having this very largeengineering project going onaround us.’
How has he been able to do that?‘The key is to focus on our people.Customer service was going to beso important in achieving thetransformation that was needed tomeet Nexus’ objectives.
‘The first thing we did when westarted the concession was tobring all of the people whodeliver front line customerservice together into the samecompany under the oneleadership. We could ensure theculture and the competence wereall aligned.
‘The second thing is, we haveinvested in new planning systemsand have increased the planningresource to cope with theconstantly changing operatingenvironment. We have alsoinvested in a lot of processtechnology to improve things likedefect reporting andmanagement.’
Now any member of front-linestaff can report defects on trainsor stations via their smart phonedirectly to a fault managementanalyst who, in turn, canimmediately mobilise repair staff.
This has led to a halving in thenumber of defects in the last 12months.
Communications andtechnology has also beenharnessed to keep the travellingpublic up-to-date. An integratedsystem allows control centre staffto advise of problems on thesystem in real time, through thewebsite, on Twitter, email andFacebook, to an estimatedaudience of 250,000.
Open Access OperatorGrand Central has only been his
responsibility since February whenhe took over from Tom Clift asmanaging director. The acquisitionwas part of Arriva’s strategic goal ofmaintaining its position as a majorplayer in all public transport in theUK. As an open access operator,Grand Central runs a service notprovided by existing franchiseesand under less prescriptive terms.
‘We looked at the various ways ofbeing involved in rail and we cansee that open access operation willbe an important and developingpart of intercity passengerprovision. We see open access as akey part of our overall portfolio.’
Arriva likes the open accessoperation’s smaller scale and itsflexibility to meet market needsand respond to revenue risks. ‘Ifyou are in the game of providingcommercial services directly to thetravelling public you need to havemore flexibility to manage the risksassociated with that. It also has theadvantage that you have theflexibility to constantly respond tochanges in that market place.’
Synergies and economiesof scale
He argues that Arriva bringsgreater strength to Grand Central.‘The flip side of being an operationof the scale of Grand Central isthat the overhead and thewherewithal to get started and tooperate at all is a very highproportion of their business.
‘By linking Grand Central to thelarger Arriva family we can bringto bear a lot in the way ofsynergies and economies of scale,so we can improve simple thingslike websites, retailing channels,yield management and marketing.’
I put it to him that managing twosuch different organisations mustbe something of a balancing act.
‘I’ve got two great teams and onGrand Central the generalmanager Sean English has been
there since it started and is verymuch in the driving seat of thatbusiness. My role is to supporthim, making sure operationsimprove day-on-day.
‘This allows me to spend the vastmajority of my time focusing onthe Metro operation while stillgiving Grand Central the input itneeds from me. It’s aboutproviding the leadership andacting as the channel through tothe parent company to make surethe team at Grand Central gets thesupport it needs to meet theobjectives we have set them.’’
McClean lives in Knaresboroughin North Yorkshire but travels upto Newcastle on Mondays to stayuntil Thursdays, leaving wife Janeand his children Lucy, 6 ½ , andDaniel, 5, behind. He met Jane, afellow Cambridge graduate, whenhe was in London.
They had a common interest, for,while he was coxing the Women’sFirst Eight, she was coxing theMen’s First Eight. He says they hitit off once she had overcome aninitial concern he might steal hercrew. He laughs. ‘I was able toconfirm to her that I had no suchintentions, because, frankly, her lotsmelt bad and weren’t half as goodlooking as mine.’
“Punctuality is up, customer satisfactionis up, fraudulent travel is down, themeasured quality of the stations and theMetro cars are up. So, between ourselvesand Nexus, we are running the railwayto a higher standard, while at the sametime having this very large engineeringproject going on around us…”RiCHARD MCCLEAN,MANAGiNG DiRECTOR, DB REGiO TyNE AND WEAR
www.railstaff.co.uk 35
Two Scottish MSps, MaureenWatt and Neil Bibby (pictured)have praised ScotRail’s ModernApprenticeships in CustomerService.
The 18 month course is deliveredat the train operator’s TrainingAcademy. The 11 young people onthe course hope to complete theirapprenticeships and Duke ofEdinburgh Gold Award this summer.
Says apprentice, Sarah Graham,22, who lives in Barrhead with her
partner and two-year-old daughter,‘I have thoroughly enjoyed theapprenticeship so far and havehigh expectations for the end ofthe programme. Theapprenticeship is a great way tolearn on the job, develop skills andsecure a better future for me andmy family, particularly during atime when so many young peopleare unemployed. I have beenwearing my uniformwith pride.’
Sarah GrahamBriefs MSPs
Founder members of theNational Skills Academy of RailEngineering have urged theindustry to recruit moreengineering staff and beyondthat to take on people fromoutside the industry for training.
Speaking at the InfrarailExhibition in Birmingham GilHowarth, NSARE’s Chief Executive,emphasised that plannedenhancements to the nationalrailway network, LondonUnderground, High Speed Two andnumerous expanding metros willincrease the demand for skilledrailway engineers.
Warning of the need to step uprecruitment, Howarth says NSAREhas been contracted by the Officeof Rail Regulation to undertake adetailed engineering skills forecastfor the industry. The first part ofthis should be completed beforethe end of this year and will give
much more precise details offuture requirements.
Paul Cooper, Chairman of theYoung Rail Professionals and PeteWaterman, patron of the Academy,backed Gil Howarth’s calls foraction.
Howarth urgesskills training
A top director at First CapitalConnect, who started his careeras a 16 year old ticket clerk, hashelped launch a newapprenticeship scheme.
The new FCC apprenticeship isaimed at those who have neitherexperience nor qualifications andFCC will even provide extra tuitionin reading, writing and arithmetic.
Says FCC Customer ServiceDirector, Keith Jipps, ‘We’verecognised that young people whoare not necessarily academic findit difficult to get work – even thosewho have fabulous people skills.We want to put that right. I startedaged 16 in a ticket office andworked my way up to the top; wewant to give other people thatopportunity.’
The scheme will give 18-23 yearsold all the training needed to gainan NVQ Level 2 and 3 qualificationand guarantee them a role at the
end of their 12 month course.During this time they will also takepart in the Duke of EdinburghSilver Award.
Welsh rugby international ScottQuinnell has added his support tothe plan. ‘I am a great believer ingiving young people the chance tomake a go of their life and gainemployment; that’s why I’msupporting this scheme. It’s exactlywhat I aim to achieve in my SkySports programme, The School ofHard Knocks. We have to giveyoung people in our communitiesthe chance to shine – and that isjust what we are doing here. I amdelighted to be involved in FCC’sinitiative.’
The apprenticeship plan is a partof FCC’s Career Connectionsinitiative aimed at boostingcustomer service experts,recruiting more drivers andengineers.
Give young peoplea chance
Villiers backsrail training
TRAiNiNG
Getting more people,particularly women, into the railindustry and training them upto the challenges that lie aheadis essential, says TheresaVilliers.
Speaking at Infrarail thetransport minister underscoredrail industry determination toattract more people to theindustry. ‘We also want to increaseopportunities for the rail industry’sworkforce, and widen the pool oftalent from which the sectorrecruits. One way to do that wouldbe to persuade more women toconsider a career in rail,’ she said.
Speaking before an audiencealmost entirely composed of menTheresa Villiers went on, ‘Eventoday, over 80 per cent of peopleworking in public transport aremen and less than 14 per cent ofNetwork Rail’s workforce isfemale.’
Recognising the need to recruitpeople from outside the industry
Villiers called for more trainingproviders to offer their expertise tothe expanding rail industry.‘Modernising training will help, soit can be delivered more flexiblyand more quickly to suit theworking patterns of modern life.
‘We would like to see newproviders enter the market fortraining so the next generation ofstaff have wider and moreconvenient opportunities todevelop the skills needed toprogress their careers.’
“NSARE has beencontracted by theOffice of RailRegulation toundertake adetailedengineering skillsforecast…”GiL HOWARTH,CHiEF ExECuTiVE, NSARE
On April 23rd Steve Hailsbecame the new Health andSafety Director for Crossrail. inline with most of our railwayindustry, Crossrail’s aim is toprevent accidents happening. ihave no difficulty in supportingthis principle.
The Press Release however refersto their “target zero philosophy asdriving every action undertaken byCrossrail staff and our deliverypartners”. The use of the word‘drives’ hints at amisunderstanding of people andtheir motivations. I hope it camefrom their public affairsdepartment not Steve Hails.
Leading by example The old adage “you can lead a
horse to water but you can’t makeit drink” is true when applied tocreating a safety culture. Toencourage people at work to worksafely and be passionate about it,for both their own safety and thatof those working alongside them isan excellent goal.
But leading by example andshowing commitment are how itcan be achieved; not coercion. Ibelieve that similar statements arealso true when it comes tomanaging and motivating peopleto get things done at workgenerally. Management throughfear or by threat is unsustainableand generally ineffective.
Beware of safety statisticsI have seen many variations on
the signage of contractors workingon large road schemes. “1,750,000safe hours worked on the site” isone I spotted recently. Thepressure such a well-publicisedslogan puts onto those workingthere must be huge. Rather thanencouraging safe working I suggestit is likely to encourage under-reporting and the concealment ofminor accidents and near misses.
Many now realise theimportance and value of reportingnear misses and indeed allincidents, which could havebecome accidents. Proclaimingachievements in terms of safetycan be counterproductive.Presenting awards for safetystatistical achievements is surelyalways likely to promote thehiding of any incident on the daybefore the award is to be made?
Network Rail safetyinitiatives
Recalling the comments made byNetwork Rail’s Gareth Llewellyn ofNetwork Rail that I reported lastmonth, I am still looking forwardto reading what I hope will be asmall number of easily understoodand evidently sensible “Life SavingRules” within our mainlineinfrastructure owningorganisation.
I note from the details on theirsafety website that Network Rail’sProject Safety Leadership Groupare now addressing the issues ofdouble shifting, electrical isolationsafety issues, workforce safetyreporting of near misses and closecalls, and the restoration of TaskBriefing sheets back to where theybegan as single page briefing aidesmemoire rather than cover-allmethod statements running tomany pages.
However, I am concerned thateven they are looking to mandateevery company they use to have aclose call reporting system within
six months. This last initiative willproduce close call reports. But themandating could well lead toindividuals being told to ensurereports are generated which willalienate the workforce I suggest!Indeed it is not beyond the realmof possibility that some may eveninvent close calls so as to complywith Network Rail’s mandate!
I am delighted to see that thetask of rationalising the number ofSentinel accredited competenceshas at last begun. That is oneinitiative which should savemoney, improve safety, and evengo some way in convincing thosewho do the work that their skillsare appreciated.
RAIB reportsThe Rail Accident Investigation
Branch (RAIB) has published anumber of reports since lastmonth and issued a couple ofaccident investigation alerts. Thereport on the incident at KingsCross Station on October 10th lastyear illustrates the sort of incidentwhich, although only minorinjuries resulted could easily havehad a serious outcome.
A passenger rushing to board atrain due to depart got a handtrapped in the closing doors andwas pulled someway along theplatform. Luckily she merelysuffered bruising to the fingers ofher left hand. The train was madeup of two 8-coach Class 365 EMU’sunder driver-only operation.
The report suggests that thedesign of the door seals should bereviewed. In my opinion moresignificantly the report adds that“dispatch staff had adopted thepractice of using their experienceand observation of passengerbehaviour to determine whether itwas appropriate to give the RightAway.”
If the dispatch staff wereadequately trained and theirmanagers and supervisors hadcreated a good open management
and safety culture would thepotential for this incident not havebeen realised before it happened?
3-hours without toilets orair conditioning
Another case in point was theincident that occurred on 26thMay last year. The RAIB report wasreleased on May 23rd. A Brightonto Bedford train suffered a loss ofpower and came to a halt. Thepublic address system failed afteraround 45 minutes and during thethree hours it took to rescue thetrain the air conditioning ceased tofunction and the toilets stoppedworking.
Not surprisingly, if unwiselysome passengers decided to forcethe doors open. Eventually it washauled into Kentish Town Station.Unusually the RAIB used You-Tube,Facebook and Twitter images intheir investigation. The concernsof the report centre on poorcommunication with thepassengers, the inadequacy of thetraining and briefing of the staffand the arrangements for rescuinga train with no power.
Again I suggest the right openattitude of trust between workersand their managers should haveresulted in adequate training andthe use of understanding andinitiative to deal with the situation.
Tram safety in EuropeManchester Metorolink trams
have been running throughManchester city streets andaround Piccadilly Gardens sinceJuly 1992, as I remember havingbeen the railway civil engineer inManchester when its first phasewas constructed.
The RAIB report into the fatalityof a 67-year old pedestrian whofell whilst running into the path ofa tram travelling at just 9 mph. Hebecame trapped under the front ofthe leading vehicle andsubsequently died of his injuries.
The report calls for research into
Driving in safety, intolerance of mistakes, strongmanagement and indeed a macho approach willnever achieve the zero in safety we all seek!
The old adage “youcan lead a horse towater but you can’tmake it drink” istrue when appliedto creating a safetyculture…
the front ends of trams and thepotential for causing injury of thecurrent designs of under-runprotectors.
I am surprised that it does notalso recommend a full review ofthe designs used across theEuropean mainland withparticular reference to thosecountries which have enjoyed theuninterrupted use of trams sincethey first began to replace horsedrawn vehicles.
Train guard fatally injuredin Yorkshire
Another fatal accident occurredat about ten past noon on theNorth Yorkshire Moors Railway onMay 21st. The 60 or so year oldvolunteer guard had uncoupledone coach from a rake of coachesstabled in the platform.
It was being drawn off by asteam locomotive, whichunexpectedly changed directionand moved back towards theremaining rake of coachescrushing the guard.
The preliminary investigation
report from the RAIB says that theex-Southern Region Class S15locomotive was working tender firstbut “the reverser could change fromreverse into forward gear unless itwas prevented from doing so by theoperation of a locking device.
Should the reverser not besecured in any position, anychange may not be noticed by thedriver and in these circumstances,would only become evident onopening the regulator, when achange of direction would occur”.
Cyclist killed on userbridleway crossing
Also in May a fatal accidentoccurred on Wednesday May 2ndat Kings Mill Number 1 BridlewayCrossing Mansfield,Nottinghamshire.
The 1555 hours passenger trainfrom Nottingham to MansfieldWoodhouse struck and killed the34-year old male cyclist as he wascycling over this user operatedcrossing.
The railway is two-track andruns close to both housing and
industrial estates. The crossing isequipped with signage including“cyclists dismount”, telephonesand self-closing gates according tothe preliminary alert from theRAIB.
Are we wrong not toidentify blame?
The common theme behind allof these reports from RAIB (andindeed the views I have expressedabout motivation for those whowork in our rail industry) is theimportance of recognising thefallibility and potential for makingmistakes which we all share ashuman beings.
The remit of the RAIB clearlyexcludes establishing blame or
liability. That is the business of theOffice of Rail Regulation, the Policeetc. But if we are to learn from themistakes that are made andindeed share that learning acrossthe industry then highlighting thedetails of blame, liability or indeedsimply flagging up where and bywhom errors of judgementcontributed needs to be done.
I believe that being briefed on thecircumstances that led toaccidents and incidents makessituations seem more real to thoseat work. We are all then morelikely to remember the detailswhen faced with similarsituations. A bland instruction,however strongly worded does nothave the same impact.
One of the values of the old stylereport issued by Her Majesty’sRailway Inspectorate each yearwas that it did just that and usedthe details of significant safetyevents to set out concerns andlessons to be learnt for the future.
I question whether there is anypublication today which does so;but the need is surely still there?
www.railstaff.co.uk 37
TRACK SAFETy
Find out more at www.zonegreen.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)114 230 0822 Fax: +44 (0)871 872 0349 Email: [email protected]
Introducing the Zonegreen Depot Safety Braking System.
In the event on a SPAD incident on the approach to the depot entrance or sidings, the
device will stop the train safely.
Used in conjunction with Zonegreen's Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPSTM),
Zonegreen Safety Braking provides additional protection for your people and rolling stock,
stopping the train safely and in the vast majority of cases without the need for derailment.
The Zonegreen
Depot Safety Braking SystemStops a train safely
Stay On Track.
The remit of theRAIB clearlyexcludesestablishing blameor liability…
38 www.railstaff.co.uk
The rail industry was out inforce at the ninth infrarailExhibition, held at the NEC nearBirmingham.
Over 5,500 people came to seemore than 200 exhibitors. Theteam from RailStaff was there tooalong with writers from the railengineer – which hosted a series ofwell attended seminars. RailStaff’snew format attracted muchattention and favourablecomment.
Minister of State for Transport,Teresa Villiers MP, opened theshow. Her speech, delivered in theexhibition’s seminar theatre,reassured delegates and shedemonstrated a firm command ofher brief. Afterwards she met staffon the RailStaff stand andreassured us that she was rightbehind High Speed Two.
Around the rest of the show,exhibitors, customers andcolleagues were meeting up anddiscussing business. Stands camein all shapes and sizes. One of thebiggest was from signallingspecialists Invensys. They werejust inside the door and seemedbusy throughout the show.Commercial director Will Wilsonwas on hand and specificallyasked to take two copies ofRailStaff away with him.
So who else was there? NetworkRail’s Simon Kirby, managingdirector infrastructure projects,and David Golding, electrificationprogramme sponsor, also spoke inthe seminar theatre, as did thesafety director of Balfour BeattyRail, Steve Holmes.
Eighteen exhibitors had theirchance to address visitors on a
wide variety of subjects rangingfrom surveying to lighting.
To pick out a few highlights,lighting specialists MJ Quinnwasshowing a new range of LEDreplacements for conventionalfluorescent tubes. Operating over360°, the fire-resistant tube is idealfor use in underground stations. Ifthe power should fail, the integralphoto-luminescent strip will emitlight for up to four hours, sufficienttime for the station to beevacuated. Ingenious!Keyline, part of the Travis Perkins
group, exhibited at Infrarail for thefirst time as part of the Yard whichgave plant companies theopportunity to show of their largervehicles. One of the new DAFcrane-operated vehicles thatKeyline will use to supportCrossrail was on display.
LH Groupwas close by, showingoff a converted Mercedes lorryfrom Zweiweg that can be used asa base vehicle for a variety ofapplications. They also servedsome of the best coffee at theshow.
Coffee was also a feature of theHoldFast stand. A full-sizesespresso machine did the honours,while Mark Coates-Smithexpounded on the virtues ofHoldFast’s rubber level crossingpanels.
Protective clothing specialistsPHS Besafewere showing a newsystem tailored to the needs of therail industry. Arc:Gear multi-layergarments will not melt or fuse oncontact with live electrical arcflash, while the next-to-skin andmid layers ensure that thegarment has good breathability
and doesn’t hinder movement.When walking round all the busy
stands got a bit too much, therewas always the networking areanext to the PHS Besafe stand.Plenty of chairs and tables allowedvisitors to sit down for adiscussion, or just rest aching feet.
The Platform, a panel-forum areathat was new at Infrarail this year,was close by and seemed wellattended while sessions wereunderway. Topics coveredcollaborative working, HS2,innovation and the skills gap, sothere was something for everyone.
Back in the main exhibition, TataSteelwas based near a couple ofpanels of track, which were beingused by other exhibitors to showoff their equipment.
The blue-painted steel sleeperslooked smart, and the
SilentTrack® noise-deadeningblock attached to the rails were agood example of how Tata is stilldeveloping track technology.
Attending Infrarail is all aboutmeeting people; former colleaguesnot seen for years, experts in theirfield who can explain newtechnology, and entrepreneurs andinnovators who have somethingdifferent to offer.
It all adds up to a very usefulthree days at the NEC. Next yearwill be the turn of Railtex, held 30April – 2 May at Earls Court 2 inLondon.
Attending Infrarail is all about meetingpeople; former colleagues not seen foryears, experts in their field who canexplain new technology, andentrepreneurs and innovators who havesomething different to offer…
40 www.railstaff.co.uk
The Eversholt Rail Group hascompleted a £45m investmentprogramme improving its Class465 Fleet.
‘The success of thisrefurbishment programme is dueto the collaborative working byRailcare and Southeastern withEversholt Rail. This programmereflects Eversholt Rail’s ongoingcommitment to fleet managementand investment in its assets,’ saysMary Kenny, Chief ExecutiveOfficer for Eversholt Rail (UK)Limited.
The 20 year old units are usedextensively by Southeastern.
MP urges Heathrowlink with west
Networker makeover
Local Mp, Fiona Mactaggart, hasadded her support to a growingcampaign to link Heathrow toReading and Slough by rail.
Currently passengers either haveto go into Paddington or change atReading for a bus. Says MarkHopwood, First Great Western’smanaging director, who also backsthe campaign, ‘It will only takearound four to five miles of newrailway across land which iscurrently not really used foranything.
‘We think getting a link intoHeathrow would not be as difficultas other railway projects beingthought about. This is not going tohappen overnight, but when Ispeak to the businesscommunities of Slough, Reading,
Swindon, Bristol and South Wales,they all seem very enthusiastic.’
Provision of the route couldreduce journey times dramatically.Reading to Terminal 5 would take28 minutes while Slough toHeathrow would be nine minutes.
Says Fiona Mactaggart MP, ‘Railaccess from the west to Heathrowis crucial to the prosperity ofSlough, and will expand the placesin easy reach of Heathrow bypublic transport, bringing theprosperity that Heathrowgenerates to a wider circle ofbeneficiaries. It will reduce trafficon the M4, and cut business costs.’
The Reverend Ron Keen,Railway Mission Chaplain, hasbeen handing out bibles to staffat stations in Cardiff, Barry andRadyr.
Says Ron Keen, ‘I always believethat people will read it, no matterwho they are, just out of curiosity.’The bibles are paid for by a legacycreated by the late T W Hill, adirector of the Taff Vale Railwaywho died in 1869.
A committed Christian, Hill leftmoney to ensure bibles could besupplied free of charge to rail staffand passengers down the years.Paul Brittain, a mobile ops manageron the railway has had to deal with
seven suicides over the last tenyears. ‘The Bible will be useful for usall, though we’re not churchgoers.When you have fatalities, or whensomething personal has happened,it will be good to refer to the Bible tosatisfy that need.’
Over the years, the interest fromMr Hill’s trust paid for bibles to beplaced in 91 waiting rooms in the47 stations along the line. SaysPaul Woolley of the Bible Society,‘We’re indebted to T W Hill for hisvision in wanting to see peopleengage with the scriptures as theywaited for trains and worked onthe railways. The Bible is asrelevant today as it was then.’
A word to the wise
ScotRail has paid tribute to localfilm director, Bill Douglas, with asculpture at Newcraighall.
The artwork marks the 40thanniversary of the release of theiconic film, My Childhood. BillDouglas made a trilogy of filmsbased on his working classupbringing in the 1940s.
Inspired by the late Douglas’sfilms, artist Kenny Munro hascreated a six-feet-tall artworkcalled A Place of Dreams, which
shows a director with his camera,against a backdrop of a passingsteam train. 4th June is the tenthanniversary of Newcraighallstation’s opening in 2002.
Bill Douglas Tribute
Following a huge growth inpassenger numbers, Transport forLondon has invited expressionsof interest to supply additionaldiesel powered vehicles for theGospel Oak-Barking route.
Currently operated by eightBombardier-built Class 172 two-carunits the line has seen passengernumbers soar by 100% at somestations, with overcrowding onpeak services.
Passengers and rail staff hopelonger 3-4 car trains will beused.
More trainsfor GOB
passengers on Londonunderground will soon be ableto tweet and update theirfacebook status as they wait fortrains.
This summer sees the roll out offree Wi-Fi at 82 of the network’sbusiest stations, includingWaterloo, Oxford Circus, CanadaWater, Stratford, Liverpool Street,Leicester Square and King’s Cross.Most rail gateways to the 2012Olympics will be covered witharound 80 stations WiFi enabled bythe end of July.
Says Gareth Powell, LondonUnderground’s Director of Strategyand Service Development, ‘Ourcustomers will soon be able toconnect to the internet for livetravel information while they areon the move through stations.
‘Bringing a next generation WiFiservice to one of the world’s oldestunderground transport networks
is progressing as planned and theforthcoming service is testing well.The first stations include some ofour busiest and most well-knowndestinations and we’re on-trackfor a successful launch thissummer - all delivered at noadditional cost to fare payers ortax payers.’
www.railstaff.co.uk 41
In the familyMerseyrail traction inspectorStuart Mason, who died lastyear at the age of 57, is to havea train named in his honour.
Mr Mason served the railway allhis life. His widow, Debbie Mason,said, ‘Stuart was a railway manthrough and through and wouldhave been thrilled that aMerseyrail train is being namedafter him.’
Following in the footsteps of hisfather and grandfather beforehim Stuart Mason joined therailways as a booking boy in thesignal boxes around ManchesterVictoria when he left school. Hebecame a signalman and latermoved to the footplate becominga driver at Newton Heath. In 1988he became a traction inspector, ajob he held until his retirementin April 2009.
Says Merseyrail operationsinspector Paul Marks, ‘TheMerseyrail operations team from
the top to the bottom all owe ahuge debt of gratitude to Stuartwho, at some point, trained,coached and mentored everysingle member of the currentoperations managers, inspectorsand leader drivers.
‘He was deeply respected by allwho knew him and by those whoworked alongside him for he wasa person of enormous integrity.He had the highest moral valuesand always displayed a greatsense of fair play.’ The namingwill take place later this year.
Train naming forTraction Inspector
Facetube
The grandson of Sir NigelGresley recently visited the Kentand East Sussex railway to seeone of his grandfather’s steamlocomotives.
Ben Godfrey visited Tenterdenstation to see the Great NorthernRailway N2 No 1744, built in
1922. Designed by Gresley No1744 ran commuter trains to andfrom London King’s Cross for 40years. Mr Godfrey wasaccompanied by his son anddaughter James and Nina andgrandchildren Ben, Lilly andChristopher.
NEWS
“Bringing a next generation WiFi serviceto one of the world’s oldestunderground transport networks isprogressing as planned…”GARETH pOWELL,DiRECTOR OF STRATEGy AND SERViCE DEVELOpMENT, LuL
“He was deeplyrespected by allwho knew him…”pAuL MARKS,OpERATiONS iNSpECTOR,MERSEyRAiL
42 www.railstaff.co.uk
Thanks to funding by DorsetCounty Council, trains willeventually be able to run off themain line at Wareham anddown to Swanage on thepreserved isle of purbeck line.
Network Rail plans to installsignalling costing £2.7m over thenext two years. The SwanageRailway has been running steamand diesel trains betweenSwanage and Norden, near CorfeCastle - half way betweenSwanage and Wareham - since1995.
Modern SignallingVolunteers drive the trains, staff
the ticket offices, mend the trackand balance the books. Onspecial occasions excursiontrains travel to Swanage fromvarious parts of the country, butthe track points at WorgretJunction have to be changedmanually and people wavingflags provide signalling.
However, Dorset has handed overthe first instalment of the fundingand finalised the agreement withNetwork Rail. The money is part ofthe Purbeck TransportationStrategy.
By installing modern signalling,the charity will be able to run up toeight return journeys per day. Thiswill increase its income and put itamong the biggest communityrailways in the country.
Trains now run dailyWhen the Swanage Railway
began work in 1976, Swanagestation was boarded-up, platformshad been bulldozed and there wasno track. Trains now run daily.
Says Swanage Railway Companychairman, Peter Sills, ‘We’redelighted that this once-in-a-generation opportunity has cometo fruition. It has been a teameffort by everyone involved,especially the Purbeck CommunityRail Partnership.’
NetworkConnectionfor Swanage
Volunteers drive the trains, staff theticket offices, mend the track andbalance the books…
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Employers are increasing thetime they take to decide on whoto hire.
At the same time, top gradecandidates are realising they havemany advantages in an era of skillshortage. An unprecedenteddemand for graduates meansthese are testing times forcompanies needing to fillvacancies. Engineering and railrecruitment specialist ATA’sManaging Director Scott Bullochexplains how some rail clients areunderestimating the potentialpower of quality candidates.
Skills gap in engineering‘Everyone is aware that there is a
skills gap in engineering. In manyorganisations key skilled labour israpidly approaching retirementage,’ says Scott. To compensate,organisations seek talented andexperienced personnel. The railindustry is no exception.
‘With so many engineeringcompanies forced to close or shedstaff during the recession, surelywe should have an abundance ofavailable talent for employers torecruit from?’ says Scott. Thesituation is not as straightforwardas many believe. Recruitmentagencies trying to get this talentback into work have identified newchallenges.
First is the trend that sees someemployers taking much longer todecide to offer the job to thecandidate. It sounds simple butATA notes that employers hold offfor that ‘perfect’ candidate.
Unwilling to compromise on skillor level of experience, a number ofemployers were either unwilling ortoo under resourced to commit thetime and money to training people- deciding instead that they wouldrather just manage with the
resource they had until the idealcandidate comes their way.
This indecisive behaviourcoincides with a shift of power inthe industry and the emergence ofa second trend. Top qualitycandidates now realise that, in anunder-resourced market, theyhave a greater amount of controlwhen it comes to choosing whothey work for.
Pick and choose‘Historically candidates would
focus on perhaps one, maybe tworoles and await the outcome ofthose,’ says Scott. ‘However, wehave started to note that goodcandidates realise they are soughtafter. We are finding thatcandidates don’t simply rely onone or two vacancies, they haveseveral opportunities open to themat once and when they are ready,they are in a position to pick andchoose their employer of choice.
‘This is great for our candidatesbut it conflicts with the hesitanttrend of employers and can mean
that by the time they have madetheir mind up to recruit anindividual, he or she has alreadydecided on an alternative role.
‘There are also still high levels ofuncertainty within UK engineeringand many candidates need to beincentivised to move. This can bein the form of packages but it isalso important that candidates seetrue potential and a secure futurewith employees.
‘This means that employers alsoneed to try that much harder topromote themselves as anemployer of choice and if they usean agency to recruit then theymust be confident that the agencyis presenting their brand in afavourable and true light.’
A recruitment partner thatwill truly understand theirneeds
So with such differing trends,what is the advice for employersand candidates? Scottrecommends: ‘Employers andcandidates should work with a
recruitment partner that will trulyunderstand their needs. At ATA weprovide a consultative approach,listening to what our clientsrequire and because we areexperts in the market place we canadvise them on the realistic natureof their expectations and develop arecruitment methodology that willdeliver what they need, first time.
‘For candidates it is importantthat they also dedicate some timeto working with their recruitmentagency to identify what is trulyimportant to them. At ATA wemanage the application processthoroughly, so that candidateshave realistic expectations interms of packages and the types oforganisations that we work withfrom the outset.
‘There is no point in wasting aclient or candidate’s time in thefirst instance if they aren’t a truematch. It is this approach thatdelivers our success ratio average of1:3 candidates employed from theinterview process with the client.’
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Perception of power in rail recruitment
44 www.railstaff.co.uk
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