Railtalk
A guest editorial by ANDREW HAINES, CEO of Network Rail
Running the railway safely and efficiently is the core purpose of this industry. Providing a good service for the 4.8 million people who travel with us every day relies on us working together to operate a complex system with efficiency and expertise.
But, coming back to the industry after 10 years away, it seems to me that Network Rail has possibly neglected the skills and processes of operating the railway in the interests of asset management, major infrastructure projects and the safety of our workforce.
All of these are vital, critical, essential undertakings. But they are not sufficient for providing a reliable service for passengers.
Regardless of where you look within the rail industry, rail operations as a profession – a profession with expertise and oversight of the whole system – has not, in general, been cultivated and valued as it should have been. And that dwindling expertise has contributed to our collective failure to make sure the railway works seamlessly as a system.
This is showing up in the level of performance that we are delivering. And passengers are paying the price in the level of service they are receiving – which all too often is not good enough.
We can and must work together to put this right, so we can deliver better journeys for the millions of people who rely on us every day.…
