Bulletin November 2016 - Issue 39, Volume 4

ISSUE 39 | NOVEMBER 2016

T H E B I A N N U A L M A G A Z I N E F O R M E M B E R S O F T H E I N S T I T U T I O N O F R A I L W AY O P E R AT O R S

IRO Chair Announced Alex Hynes, Managing Director, Northern, is welcomed as the new Chair of the Institution

Understanding Depot Operations Oliver Bratton, Operations Director - European Business, MTR, explores the link between depot operations and performance

Welcoming Cohort 2016 This year’s recipients of the IRO scholarship fund discuss their ambitions for the future

Planning for Change: The Midlands and the North David Brown, Chief Executive, Transport for the North, and Malcolm Holmes, Acting Programme Director, West Midlands Rail, discuss their work to improve Britain’s railways

02 | WELCOME

Chief Executive Officer Fiona Tordoff fiona@railwayoperators.co.uk Membership membership@railwayoperators.co.uk Professional Standards Manager (For Membership and Learning) Liz Walker 03333 440523 (ex. 201) liz@railwayoperators.co.uk Learning and Development learning@railwayoperators.co.uk Marketing and Communications Simon Rawlings 03333 440523 (ex. 204) simon@railwayoperators.co.uk

The Moat House 133 Newport Road Stafford ST16 2EZ 03333 440523 www.railwayoperators.co.uk Opinions expressed in editorial material do not necessarily represent the views of the IRO or its members.

Welcome Welcome to the November 2016 edition of Bulletin, the Institution of Railway Operators’ biannual magazine.

The summer months are some of the most exciting for the Institution as they involve preparations for welcoming new students on the higher education courses in Railway Operations Management. We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new students at the recent course launches in Dublin and London and are proud that these railway professionals are from a broad range of countries and railway organisations.

In this issue you will be able to learn a wealth of information about the work to improve Britain’s railways across the Midlands and the North and read about the potential for performance improvement if the interfaces between engineering and operations are better understood and planned.

On page 10 you can also find out more about Alex Hynes and his new role as Chair of the IRO board of directors.

Our former Chair, Jo Kaye, has now stepped down as a member of the IRO board of directors, along with John Doyle who has now retired from the industry.

Jo and John have given much of their time to support the growth and development of the Institution, so we would like to take this opportunity to wish them all the best for the future and thank them for their support.

The IRO Stafford Team

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to join our growing online community of rail industry professionals. Find out about upcoming events, industry news and more.

Twitter: @IRO_UK LinkedIn: Search 'Institution of Railway Operators' Picture Credits: Pages 6 & 7: Flickr 'Morning Light at Manchester Piccadilly Station' is licensed under CC BY 2.0, Flickr 'Manchester' by Zuzanna Neziri is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Pages 8 & 9: Flickr '165029' by Mick Baker is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0, Flickr 'Arriva 3rd. prize' by Mick Baker is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

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CONTENTS | 03

Issue 39 | November 2016 Features & Interview Planning for Change: 04-07 The Midlands and the North Malcolm Holmes, Acting Programme Director, West Midlands Rail and David Brown, Chief Executive, Transport for the North, discuss their work to improve Britain’s railways across the Midlands and the North Understanding Depot Operations Oliver Bratton, Operations Director - European Business, MTR, explores the link between depot operations and performance

04

08

Membership The Road to Chartered Status A look at the IRO membership opinion survey results

09

IRO Chair Announced Alex Hynes, Managing Director, Northern, is welcomed as the new Chair of the Institution

09

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Learning and Development Celebrating Graduation Success Presenting the latest graduates from the IRO GCU higher education courses in Railway Operations Management

10

GWR Educational and Professional Sponsorship 11 Suzanne Groarke-Oliver, Learning & Development Support Manager, Great Western Railway, discusses the benefits of the GWR sponsorship programme Introducing Cohort 2016 This year’s recipients of the IRO scholarship fund discuss their ambitions for the future

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Events 2016 Members’ Lunch A look back at one of the Institution’s biggest annual events.

14-15

Areas Event Review: Performance Improvements through Remote Condition Monitoring David Bishop, Business Manager, Intelligent Rail, from Ricardo Rail gave a presentation to members

16

Event Review: Behind the Scenes at the Loram Vehicle Engineering Works Members were given a behind the scenes tour at the Loram Vehicle Engineering Works in Derby Event Review: Chiltern Railways – A New Dawn Andrew Munden FIRO, Operations Director, Chiltern Railways, updated the IRO South East Area on the improvements seen on his network

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Event Review: French Railway Operations Members visited Paris to learn about the second most expansive network in Europe

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Upcoming Events Find out what events are being held in your area

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0 4 | I NTERVIEW/FEATURE

West Midlands Rail:

Delivering a Railway That Inspires Greatness

BY SIMON RAWLINGS

Malcolm Holmes, Acting Programme Director, West Midlands Rail, gives an insight into the new West Midlands franchise and the changes, improvements and innovations they are seeking from the next operator.

West Midlands Rail Limited (WMR) are a democratically accountable body that exists to gain greater influence over rail services in the West Midlands. The consortium is made up of the West Midlands Combined Authority and its constituent districts, together with seven shire and unitary authorities that mirror the geography they are seeking to devolve.

WMR is working alongside the Department for Transport (DfT) to specify and procure the new West Midlands franchise which is set to begin on 15th October 2017 and run for 8 ½ years. With the deadline for submission of bids on 29th November 2016, time is of the essence for the two remaining bidders: incumbent operator Govia, Govia Ltd (a joint venture between Keolis and Go-Ahead Group), and Abellio Transport Group Ltd with East Japan Railway Company and Mitsui & Co Ltd as minority partners.

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF RAIL

The link between rail and economic growth is now well recognised, and for Malcolm Holmes and WMR, rail has great potential to bring about positive change to the everyday lives of passengers.

‘The link between rail and economic prosperity is now an argument that doesn’t have to be rehearsed that much. It is well understood that there is a clear link between the two, which wasn’t the case some years ago,’ says Malcolm.

‘For the West Midlands, there are around 40,000 people a day that use trains to get into the centre of Birmingham for work. There are areas of deprivation and poverty in the West Midlands and rail has the potential to improve people’s lives.

Rail is very important, economically and socially.’

THE PROBLEM

West Midlands Rail are seeking to gain more influence and control over local rail services from 2017. Malcolm explains that, in recent years, there has been a lack of local influence in the West Midlands which is set to be returned when the new franchise is awarded in 2017.

‘Local influence in rail services in the West Midlands is at the lowest it has been for a generation. In British Rail days there was a Section 20 Agreement between Centro (the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive) and British Rail. Centro took a revenue risk and were able to specify what services were delivered.

There was also a service quality regime that was run

by Centro which governed the quality of stations, train facilities and information,’ says Malcolm.‘When the London Midland franchise was awarded in 2007 much of the local influence was taken away, so there was very little local influence at all.’

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I N T E R V I E W / F E AT U R E | 0 5 A BRAND THAT INSPIRES GREATNESS

HOW WILL IT WORK?

Although the West Midlands franchise geography will remain largely unchanged, in the first 12 months of the new franchise the operator will be required to create two separable business units. One of those will be for the West Midlands local rail services and the other will be for the West Coast services.

Malcolm explains the reasoning for this, ‘WMR will be taking the lead for franchise management of the distinct business unit that will have our local brand on it for our local rail services in the West Midlands. In the long term it will be these services that we will look to fully devolve.

‘The franchise has a wide geography, so it clearly wouldn’t be appropriate for us to be managing services in, for example, Hertfordshire. The creation of business units will allow us to play our management role where it is most appropriate to do so,’ adds Malcolm.

The input from WMR in the franchise specification and procurement will lead to many improvements to local rail services in the area. As well as a huge boost to capacity, there will also be a notable increase in the frequency of many services, as well as the introduction of new ones.

‘There will be a 30% increase in capacity for the West Midlands and central Birmingham over the next few years. We have got a tremendous improvement in Sunday services with most lines operating a Saturday service rather than the infrequent services that we have today,’ says Malcolm.

‘There will be improvements in evening frequencies, in some cases there will be earlier start times and finishing times of services.’

Passengers will also benefit from the refurbishment of all rolling stock and the introduction of Wi-Fi on all services (apart from the Stourbridge Town Branch Line which, at 1.3km, is too short to benefit from it.)

Malcolm adds that ‘Wolverhampton Station will also move from the Intercity West Coast franchise to the West Midlands franchise to allow a much greater local input there to create a world-class public transport interchange. Stations have huge potential to be more than they are today. The rail network tends to look at them simply as a gateway to a rail network however, I believe that stations can play a much greater role in their local community. In the future we are looking to see how we can nurture stations as community assets.’

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The franchise specification mandates the use of a locally specified brand for the West Midlands business unit, and Malcolm believes that there is work to be done in order to establish West Midlands Railway as a brand that forms part of local identity for the area.

‘The current London Midland branding doesn’t effectively connect with people in the region. It is based on price and utility, rather than its purpose. There is very little emotional connection.’

For Malcolm, the identity of London’s transport systems offer a prime example of the direction he would like West Midlands Railway to head towards.

‘I have tea towels with the underground map on as it has come to be iconic. People recognise the logo and people are proud to work with TfL organisations, and part of that is because of the brand that exists and the emotional response that is connected to it.’

Recognising the diversity of the region, Malcolm explains that the West Midlands is challenging because ‘the region itself a definition of polar opposites.’

‘What connects the people of Herefordshire to the Black Country? It is very difficult to make that connection, but what we found when we were doing the brand work is that the connection between the people of the region is within our industrial past.

Whether that’s Herefordshire making Cider or Leamington creating computer games or forging steel in the Black Country, we have a history that we are very proud of.’

‘It is this pride that joins us together as a region, combined with the fact that we are always forward looking. The brand and its use will be focused on making that emotional connection based on the things that join us together: an industrious past and an industrious future,’ adds Malcolm.

FULL DEVOLUTION

WMR are working with the government to develop plans for a fully devolved rail franchise for the region in the future. Full devolution for the West Midlands would come with a number of risks and responsibility however, as Malcolm explains, ‘with that risk comes control.’

‘If we choose to pursue full devolution we need to demonstrate that there is a case for doing that and make that case to the Secretary of State. He or she will then need to decide whether this is something that should go ahead if it is agreed that West Midland Rail’s capability to effectively specify, procure and manage a rail franchise is of the standard that would be required.

0 6 | I NTERVIEW/FEATURE

Colouring Outside the Lines David Brown, Chief Executive of Transport for the North, explains how devolution can help drive transport transformation in the North of England Although I’ve worked in transport for my entire career, my degree is in human geography. Apparently the two things that human geographers are really good at are colouring in and joining the dots! I’m not sure that’s true, but some of my geography skills have certainly stood me in good stead.

I do think that my educational background and my early career have prepared me well for the exciting challenges I’m now facing as Transport for the North moves towards becoming England’s first sub-national transport body.

A bit of background about me: I joined the British Rail training scheme in 1987 and was then sent to Carlisle as a management trainee as a test of my resilience!

This was at the time of the emerging sector businesses like Intercity, Network SouthEast and Regional Railways. It was interesting for me to learn about the railways, not about trains (although I enjoyed my time learning how to shunt in Kingmoor Yard!) but about the real purpose of the railways– linking people, goods and places.

Northern franchise and we were very proud Often this role gets lost, and working within the industry that we could be involved with train operating at that time I did feel it was sometimes much more companies and watch what was going on. about engineering rather than the purpose and rationale But it became very apparent to me that just of railways. I did a wide range of jobs after the training attending the meetings really wasn’t very scheme, although my first role was senior supervisor at valuable at all if we couldn’t significantly Leamington Spa. What that job did was re-emphasise the influence what was happening via DfT role of railways and also the role of people in delivering through to the TOCs. We actually struggled those railway services and how important it is to keep to deliver any meaningful improvements to rail people central to get the most out of the railways. To join services in the North. the dots, you need to not only know what your objective We took the decision about four years is and what you’re trying to achieve but also be able to ago that we would take a greater role in communicate that objective to others. specifying, on behalf of the North, what I eventually moved on from railways and, via should be delivered through the franchises consultancy, to the public sector, working at Passenger by the train operators. I think that at the Transport Executives in South Yorkshire and then time the train operators were a bit bemused Merseyside. That was when I fully appreciated the by that because their clear guidance and importance of the other public transport modes that specification came from DfT. I think that people rely on every day. For example, in South Yorkshire DfT were also bemused at the thought of there are 10 million local rail journeys, 11.5 million Northern authorities having a greater and journeys on a tram and 107 million local bus journeys more say in what the railways in the North every year. Just trying then to understand should look like. However, as a geographer the context of rail and how it fits into a multi-modal who can colour in and join dots up, I thought transport structure was really important. it was obvious that Northern stakeholders had It was seeing how these transport modes fit together a far better appreciation of what was needed at a local level that made me realise how valuable local from train services to get them to work, to get and regional planning is to the development of transport them to leisure activities, infrastructure to make it fit for purpose. Nothing can to move goods about and to enable their replace that local connection, both when it comes businesses to grow. to understanding what is needed and also being We set up an inclusive, pan-Northern accountable to the population you are trying to serve. organisation called Rail North. We wanted In the North, the PTEs were co-signatories to the to be clear about what we thought the

specifications of the TransPennine and Northern franchises should be. This wasn’t fluffy rhetoric – it was underpinned by a strong business case and strong evidence so that we could actually make the case for some investment in the railways in the North.

I’ve worked in transport in the North since 1990. There has been no significant investment in either the train services or the infrastructure but we made a case that there should be significant future investment in infrastructure, rolling stock and train services across the North.

This has led to the growth and investment-led franchises now being delivered by Arriva and First Group. It really will be a challenge for the industry, both infrastructure and services, to ensure that those services are delivered on the ground.

It is our job to make sure that the franchises operate as they are meant to and also that Network Rail are held to account to deliver that infrastructure that is essential to deliver the growth.

We also believe that we should be the franchise awarding body for the next time around, so we can be responsible for the specifications that the North

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needs. We might even bring that together with other transport modes, so that we have one integrated package to provide a true end to end journey.

In some ways this earlier development work in Rail North has helped to lead to the development of Transport for the North, which represents local government and businesses from across the whole of the North, from the Scottish border down to the border with Wales and the Midlands; an area comprises of around 16 million people and has a GVA of about £290 billion.

It is also an area that economically lags behind the rest of England, both in terms of economic performance and in terms of transport infrastructure. Those things aren’t disconnected. Poor transport links across the North make it harder for businesses to expand.

They make it harder for talented people to grow their careers in the North. And they make it harder for goods to be moved into, out of and around the region.

Improving the transport infrastructure to drive economic growth is what Transport for the North is all about. We firmly believe that the North has a clearer view of the economic underpinning that’s required and that we should be influencing and shaping that agenda moving forward. That’s why we’ll be looking to be the organisation

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that makes decisions on strategic transport investment in the North. We’re looking to be acting as client for Network Rail and Highways England, as well as for the next round of rail franchises.

I know there are people who are sceptical about this. I’ve heard people say, well, we’ve got a High Level Output Spec process and a regulator and the Department for Transport so I don’t see how this all fits in. But actually, the legislation that allows this to happen has already gone through Parliament. Our proposal to become a sub-national transport body has been agreed by the nineteen Northern local authorities and is now under consideration by the Secretary of State. We expect to get statutory status next year.

I’d like to highlight, this isn’t just happening in the North. We’re already in discussion with Midlands Connect about what transport investment looks like in the Midlands. The Heart of England and the South West of England are not too far behind. So it’s not too difficult to see a network of sub-national transport bodies across the whole of England in the not-too-distant future, all looking for responsibilities and powers.

This is a really exciting opportunity. The challenge will be how we work with our suppliers, with

Network Rail and with the train operating companies to get the best out of that relationship. In the North, through Rail North and with our train operating colleagues I think we’ve already made real progress in delivering specifications and contracts that were far better than the previous regime.

We believe we’ll build on that progress by working with Network Rail and the train operating companies to ensure that we’ve got the right future investment programme to enable us to run more trains, longer trains and better trains. That triangle between the client (ourselves on behalf of the 16 million people in the North), the train operating companies and Network Rail is a much neater triangle than involving lots of different departments and parts of department in central government.

This is about devolution but it’s also about economics. It’s not just how much is spent but also how it’s spent and it’s about holding agencies to account on delivering it. We think it’s quite a bold and ambitious programme that we have and our business partners and politicians are fully supportive of that and that proposition has now gone into government about how we achieve that.

0 8 | I NTERVIEW/FEATURE

Understanding Depot Operations Oliver Bratton, Operations Director - European Business, MTR, examines the potential for performance improvement if the interfaces between engineering and operations are better understood and planned.

The UK rail industry places great emphasis measuring two statistics: the punctuality of passenger trains at destination (PPM) and the reliability of rolling stock (MTIN / MPC). These are both very important: we know that there is a strong correlation between passenger satisfaction and PPM (a correlation of approximately 80%), and fleet can be as much as 50% of TOC on Self PPM failures.

Typically, Engineering owns fleet reliability and Operations owns PPM. We rarely think, however, of the connection between the two— beyond when a train fails in service.

How much does fleet reliability depend on operations? And what about vice versa?

Industry performance figures show that the punctuality of the first trains of the day has dropped over the past four years. The industry challenge is to ensure every train of the day has the best chance of running to timetable, and understanding what happens before the first train of the day enters passenger service is frequently overlooked.

As part of the Industry Better Operations group run by National

Task Force (NTF), a small team has been investigating how performance can be improved if the interfaces between engineering and operations are better understood and planned. This leads to an examination of the movement of ECS, both on the running lines and in the depot.

The focus on the train as the resource (its reliability, its performance against the timetable) can mean that the true value of other resources is overlooked.

An outcome of the work is to ask ‘What happens if the maintenance roads in a depot are considered the valuable resource?’ In this case, how can we be sure that we are maximising the utilisation of depot assets, such as where working at height can be carried out, how much time units can spend over pits, or even how to best use a carriage washer? Once this approach is taken, the importance of the depot itself running to a plan becomes paramount.

At this point, how operations provides trains to the engineering team (what happens to depot maintenance if all trains arrive late following disruption?), how accurately depot stabling is

planned, how many shunts are made overnight, and how do units get handed from engineering to operations in the morning can all be seen to be interconnected.

The complexity of these relationships is often managed at night locally by relatively junior people. How confident are we that we have provided these teams with the training and tools to allow them to manage this effectively?

If meaningful metrics can be identified for these operations and engineering interfaces, we can use performance planning

processes to improve how we manage trains not in passenger service. Much of this will depend on local circumstances (particularly the history of a given depot), but this variation of practice across the country highlights the need for operators to have the skills, tools, training and development to allow depot operations to become a competence in its own right, rather than being the missing link between operations and engineering as it is currently.

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MEMBERSHIP | 09

Alex Hynes Announced as IRO Chair The Institution is pleased to announce that Alex Hynes has been appointed as Chair of the IRO board of directors.

Alex, who is currently the Managing Director of Arrival Rail North, joined the IRO board of directors in 2013. Having spent his early career as a consultant for Halcrow Fox, Alex worked with the Office of Rail Regulation. He then joined the Go-Ahead Group in 2005 as Strategic Planning Manager and, in 2007, as Commercial Director at London Midland, and finally, as Managing Director – Rail Development. Here Alex sat on the Executive Committee and led the development and

delivery of Go-Ahead’s rail strategy including all franchise bidding activity.

Working with the IRO board of directors and IRO Chief Executive Officer, Alex will guide the strategic direction of the IRO as it continues to seek to professionalise railway operations. Throughout his tenure Alex will oversee the IRO’s application for a Royal Charter which will aim to build upon the progress that has been made to establish the profession of railway operations within the industry.

Alex will succeed Jo Kaye as she continues in her role as Network Strategy and Planning Director at Network Rail.

As Chair for over two years, Jo oversaw the launch IRO Learn, IRO conferences and continued growth in one of the fastest growing membership organisations for railway professionals.

The Road to Chartered Status Earlier this year the Institution invited you to let us know your opinion in regards to becoming a Chartered Institution and help the IRO develop the profession of railway operations The Institution is already the pre-eminent organisation for railway operators worldwide and boasts an ever increasing and engaged membership. The IRO board of directors believes that seeking Chartered status is an important step in Institution's 17 year evolution.

We teamed up with Electoral Reform Services, an independent scrutineer with a great track record in online voting and were delighted with the overwhelming support that was shown.

The Institution is now moving forward with the application and will keep members updated throughout.

Voting opened on Tuesday 24th May and closed on Wednesday 14th June.

The results were as follows:

Do you support IRO’s application for Chartered status?

Do you support IRO’s application for charitable status?

Number voting YES: 96.6% of the valid vote

Number voting YES: 89.3% of the valid vote

Number voting NO: 3.4% of the valid vote

Number voting NO: 10.7% of the valid vote

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10 | LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

Celebrating Graduation Success

The Institution is delighted to present the latest graduates from its diploma and degree courses in Railway Operations Management. These academic courses, which are delivered in conjunction with Glasgow Caledonian University, have allowed each graduate to study and enhance their knowledge of the art of Operations.

The ceremony, which was held at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, saw graduates mark their achievement with friends and family. The Institution would like to congratulate the graduates listed below on their fantastic achievements and commitment to their professional development.

Diploma of Higher Education in Railway Operations Management: Simon Dalby (TransPennine Express), Mark Mitchell (Virgin Trains), Nigel Smith (CrossCountry Trains).

Bachelor of Science in Railway Operations Management: Fadhel Ali (Serco), Leonard Baldwin (International Transport Training & Development), James Beckingham (Southeastern), Richard Bergin (Iarnród Éireann), Barnaby Clark (Network Rail), Robert Cummings (Northern),

Andrew Drury (Louis Berger), Sean Dutton (Keolis Middle East), Rodney Ferris (Translink), Paul Grimes (Iarnród Éireann), Ryan Johnson (Etihad Rail), Kevin Kennea (ScotRail), John Langlands (Great Western Railway), Charles Lewsley (Translink),

Brian Lynch (Network Rail), Joseph Maher (Iarnród Éireann), Dominic Mottram (Network Rail), Susan Nichol (Virgin Trains), Sean O’Connor (Iarnród Éireann), David Owen (Interfleet Technology), Harriet Prempeh (Great Western Railway), Anthony Sadler (Downer Rail),

Adrian Sawdon (Freightliner Heavy Haul), Theophilus Steiner Great Western Railway), Sam Tattersall (Network Rail), Georges Mbonkwi (LOROL), Brian Webster (Serco).

To find out more about the learning opportunities offered by the IRO please visit www.railwayoperators.co.uk/learning-development or email the learning team at learning@railwayoperators.co.uk

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT | 11

GWR Educational and Professional Sponsorship Suzanne Groarke-Oliver, Learning & Development Support Manager, Great Western Railway, discusses the benefits of the GWR sponsorship programme which supports colleagues through higher education courses provided by the Institution and Glasgow Caledonian University.

Great Western Railway (GWR) is proud to support a sponsorship programme to enable our colleagues to access higher education with opportunities being advertised in our learning prospectus which is available to over 6000 colleagues across the business.

One of our core values in GWR is being supportive of one another, and the educational and professional sponsorship scheme offers formal and recognised learning opportunities, giving GWR colleagues the potential to access higher education. We do this through a fair and transparent process which is structured and well supported by the business and our Learning and Development team.

GWR offer funding under the programme for courses with the IRO and Glasgow Caledonian University on all levels: • Certificate of Higher Education in Railway Operations Management • Diploma of Higher Education in Railway Operations Management • Bachelor of Science in Railway Operations Management.

In GWR we consider sponsoring future courses based on colleague benefit, i.e. is there clear benefit to the individual to assist them in their current role, foreseeable move or progression within the business?

We also take into account the business benefit - does the course add value and enable the colleague to develop and meet key priorities and objectives which will enhance the department and thereby impact on GWR objectives?

In summary, the programme in GWR sets out to provide structure and support to colleagues that includes a training needs analysis to identify individual requirements, an application process via line management followed by a robust shortlisting process with panel decision and offer of financial support.

Following the award of sponsorship, there is support for learners from the Learning and Development Support Manager throughout the course, which includes engaging with a mentor from the wider business to support learning and course content. There is support with subject matter for projects and dissertations which are based on real business benefit to GWR. Over the years GWR has supported a large number of colleagues in undertaking IRO qualifications, with some of our most recent graduates completing the Bachelor of Science in Railway Operations Management in June 2016 - Theophilus Steiner (Train Manager, Paddington), Harriet Prempeh (Delay Attributor, Swindon), and John Langlands (Driver Manager, Plymouth).

If you are an employee of GWR and would like more information on the GWR Educational & Professional Sponsorship Programme please contact Suzanne.Groarke-Oliver@gwr.com Alternatively, please email the learning team at learning@railwayoperators.co.uk if you would like to discuss creating a similar sponsorship programme within your organisation.

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12 | LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

-3°

Welcoming Cohort 2016

On 1st October the Institution and Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) welcomed new students onto the certificate, diploma and degree courses in Railway Operations Management at the 2016 course launches in London and Dublin.

The events, which were held at GCU’s London campus and Dublin’s Connelly Station, brought students together from across the industry as they began their studies in Railway Operations Management. We would like to wish all students the best of luck with their studies!

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LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT | 13

IRO Scholarship Recipients The Institution’s scholarship fund is now in its second year. It has continued to be popular with members who would like to develop their railway operations knowledge and expertise through the study of our higher education courses in Railway Operations Management.

The Institution is extremely pleased to have offered over £15,000 in scholarships to members this year. We caught up with some of this year’s recipients to find out more about their reasons for studying and the importance of the IRO scholarship fund to their professional development.

David Kippax

Network Operations Manager, Network Rail Consulting (Saudi Arabia) David has over 20 years’ experienc e in the rail industry, having left scho ol when he was 16 and started working as a Train Recorder at Railtrack. He progress ed in various operational roles at Netw ork Rail and is now looking to broaden his understanding of railway operation s and cement his experience with a degree qualification in Railway Operations Management (BSc).

Commenting on what he is looking forward to as a student on the cour se, David said: ‘I’m looking forward to meeting people from different aspe cts of the industry that I would not usua lly get to meet in my role. I also have lots of questions that I have never had the chance to find an answer to and would like to learn new things from the experience of others. I do railw ay operations day in, day out, so havi ng the opportunity to learn from the challeng es and success that other people in diffe rent roles have faced will be invaluable.

I’m excited to complete the degree cour se and come away with tons of knowledg e and a formal qualification too.’

David added: ‘Receiving an IRO scholarship has been a big help and took a weight off my mind.’

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Carolyn Green

STP Train Planner, South West Train s and Seasonal Staff / Volunteer Footplate Crew , North Yorkshire Moors Railway Carolyn joined the industry arou nd 11 years ago following her initial work as a voluntee r for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR).

She first joined Network Rail as a Train Planner and later work ed as an Assistant Rail Projects Manager for CH2M. Caro lyn is now enjoying her work at South West Trains and NYMR and is looking forward to completing the degree course, having already studied the diploma.

Discussing her reasons for applying for an IRO scholarship and place on the cour se, Carolyn said: ‘I applied for the IRO scholarship as I was recently made redundant and am a single parent with a hyperactive six-year-old. Having completed the diploma course and thoroughly enjoyed it, I wanted to go on and do the degree. The diploma course has imm ensely improved my understanding of the rail industry, so it was a natural step to progress on to the degree.’

Carolyn added: ‘Without the IRO scholarship I wouldn’t be able to progress my education, and without doing that, I’m effectively limiting my own care er prospects.’

Carolyn’s tips for members and students are: ‘Make use of IRO Area events! I attend the North East Area’s events and this opens up a whole different area of information that you can use in your everyday work and submissions (if you are on a course).

The Area Council Members, such as Jason Wade (Nor th East Area Chairman) and Jim Dedicoat (North East Area Treasurer) are friendly, approachable and a wea lth of information too.’

‘A good thing about the IRO is that everyone is there because they want to be. Ther e is a free flow of information and help like no other indu stry I have ever come across.’

Gurminder Singh Sadhar

Train Manager, Great Western Railway or as a Bus Driver with Gurminder joined the transport sect rail industry as a Train Guard the to FirstGroup and then later moved r has successfully completed the at Bristol Temple Meads. Gurminde ay Operations Management Railw certificate and diploma course in lenge of the degree. and is now looking forward to the chal ma courses and have diplo and ‘I really enjoyed the certificate emic programme. Great acad e entir the plete com to always intended certificate and diploma the on e plac Western Railway sponsored my the perfect opportunity to move up courses which presented me with industry at the same time,’ says the t the ladder and learn more abou Gurminder. a deeper understanding of all ‘As a degree student I hope to gain looking forward to a placement of the individual modules. I am also more experience and practical me within the business that will give ard.’ forw e mov me knowledge to help ly for an IRO scholarship? ‘This What motivated Gurminder to app my degree studies and I didn’t fund to able not was r year my employe n to complete the course vatio moti the want to take a gap year. I have IRO scholarship fund will help and did not want to take a break. The career in railway operations.’ my er me to continue studying and furth

14 | EVENTS

Industry Gathers for IRO Lunch The Institution was delighted to welcome members and guests from across the industry at Aspire in Leeds for this year’s IRO Members’ Lunch.

The event, which was held on 17th June, saw David Brown Chief Executive, Transport for the North, attend as guest speaker and give an enlightening speech about the work of his organisation and the future of rail in the North.

We would like to thank all those who attended and look forward to seeing you again next year!

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EVENTS | 15

For more photographs from the event please visit: www.railwayoperators.co.uk/whats-on/items-of-interest /iro-members-lunch-2016-photography www.railwayoperators.co.uk

16 | AREAS

Performance Improvements through Remote Condition Monitoring

BY PAUL SNOWDEN

Earlier this year David Bishop, Business Manager, Intelligent Rail, from Ricardo Rail gave a presentation to members of the IRO North East Area about “Performance Improvements through Remote Condition Monitoring”.

Earlier this year David Bishop, Business Manager, Intelligent Rail, from Ricardo Rail gave a presentation to members of the IRO North East Area about “Performance Improvements through Remote Condition Monitoring”.

David gave a valuable insight into the background of Ricardo Rail, which was formed by the transfer of Lloyd’s Register Rail to Ricardo plc in July 2015. Ricardo is a global engineering and strategic,

technical and environmental consultancy business, which has a wide-ranging portfolio of products, including the design and manufacture of high-performance motor car engines.

Recent advances in information technology have made the acquisition and sharing of an unprecedented range of conditioning monitoring data feasible across both technical and operational aspects of rail systems. This can help customers improve performance as well as reduce cost.

Throughout the event David explained the principles of data acquisition – measuring infrastructure and train from sensors mounted on both trackside and rolling stock. The concept is to move towards doing the monitoring from regular passenger trains, with the aim of taking as many measurements as possible. This enables the monitoring of trends and detection of emerging issues with, for example, track, OLE and train wheels.

The presentation showcased some case

studies of how recently-installed systems are used in the UK and overseas on rolling stock and rail infrastructure to improve both safety and train service performance.

These included: u Gotcha wheel impact load detection system to detect wheel faults, and avoid damage to both vehicle and track u TADS Acoustic Axlebox Detection, which can detect various abnormalities before the axlebox starts to heat up u PanMon pantograph monitoring applications, which can help avoid potentially disastrous dewirements u Smartfleet Analytics – using existing on-train management systems to detect potential failures before they happen A lively question and answer session ensued, and those attending agreed that this was a most informative and enjoyable presentation.

Visiting the Loram UK Ltd in Derby

BY DAVID COURT

In September members of the North East Area paid a visit to the Loram Vehicle Engineering Works in Derby. The vast site is situated on the former Railway Technical Centre now Business Park on London Road in Derby.

Loram, a North American based company and registered Train Operating Company, took over the present site from RVEL earlier this year.

Following a short briefing, members were given a guided tour that covered the whole site, including the following track lab stripping shop, erecting and panel shop (known as vehicles workshop), engineering delivery unit, movements yard and finally the Kelvin project and paint shop.

Unfortunately no vehicles were present in the latter.

The locomotives and traction units members viewed were as follows: Class 08, 31, numerous

37’s (including one specially dedicated and renumbered 37558 Avro Vulcan heritage DMU), one of Loram’s own rail grinding train sets, DVT’s and various Network Rail engineering units and ontrack machines.

Our thanks must go to our superb guides, Mark Shepherd (Head of Operations) and Russ White (Deputy Team Manager). Questions throughout the visit were suitably answered and all members agreed what a very informative and useful exercise the visit had been!

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Chiltern Railways

A New Dawn

BY NICK WESTCOTT MIRO

On 18th July 2016 Andrew Munden, Operations Director, Chiltern Railways, updated the IRO South East Area on the improvements seen on his network.

The Chiltern route has not always been the thriving route it is today. In fact, it started out as a 'duplicate' railway to other routes serving the London metropolitan areas and was run-down under British Rail. It closed north of Aylesbury in September 1966 and the 27 miles between Princes Risborough and Aynho Junction were singled in 1968.

Indeed Marylebone very nearly became a bus station in 1986.

Its fortunes started to change when Adrian Shooter led a management buy-out in the mid-1990s. He had a clear idea of what he wanted to achieve with the network and identified the opportunities for expanding the business.

Currently, Chiltern Railways possess a 20 year franchise, awarded in 1995 and renewed in 2002. The franchise carries complete revenue risk and has no financial protection. As in the early days of the route's inception, Chiltern passengers still have a real choice of travel modes. The business competes with the parallel M40 motorway, as well as with Virgin Trains, London Midland, and GWR. According to Munden, 80% of their journeys involve London.

Despite that, since the current franchise commencement in 2002, Chiltern has exceeded both industry and London South East sector operator passenger growth in spite of major setbacks including a Tesco

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store in construction at Gerrards Cross causing a tunnel to collapse in 2005 and the Harbury Cutting slip ten years later.

Chiltern Railways has made a significant investment in rolling stock, particularly with a fleet of Class 168 Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs). They also operate new Class 68 locomotives hauling rebuilt Mk.III rolling stock fitted with power doors, retention toilets and widened vestibules. Chiltern have re-fitted the interior with seats that align with windows and non-high-back seats with tables, power sockets and 4G WiFi. The latter will be fitted across all units. Along with industry-standard AWS and TPWS, DMUs are also fitted with trip clocks and Automatic Train Protection (ATP) meaning wiring and therefore class interoperability differs, causing the Class 168 classification.

The TOC has made major investment in its infrastructure through the Evergreen programmes. The more recent stage of this saw line speed improvements that increased speeds from 75mph to 100mph as well as realigned layouts that allowed further marginal speed improvements.

Chiltern re-opened the old Bletchley line from Bicester to Oxford as a collaboration with Network Rail, which allowed each organisation to play to its strengths. Latterly, the government invested in East-West Railway which required that the project be

recalibrated and future-proofed, meaning it is has been built as OHL and W10-gauge ready. The line opened on 26th October 2015 as the first new railway linking two English cities in over 100 years.

In addition, Chiltern has invested significantly in stations, bringing two bay platforms back into service in their former GWR glory at Birmingham Moor Street.

They moved the location of Bicester North station to create the new Bicester Village station providing much improved access to the eponymous high-end retail outlets and utilised this opportunity to re-design the traditional station layout and facilities using technology to serve customers better.

Very soon, Banbury's steam-age signalling will be replaced in a nine-day blockade to create a fully bi-directional station with a new platform, all signalled from Saltley. A new traction light maintenance depot will open in 2017.

The IRO would like to extend its thanks to Andrew for a most interesting and informative talk.

French Railway Operations

BY NICK WESTCOTT MIRO

A delegation from the IRO South East Area visited Paris from 23rd – 25th September to observe how railway operations function in France, the second most expansive network in Europe. Train operations, including the iconic TGV service, are run largely by SNCF Voyages, while the infrastructure is managed by SNCF RÊseau.

...Gare du Nord Station Tour

...Ouigo

At our first stop, we received a guided tour of the station and visited the Control Room, which oversees platform allocation, punctual departures, station security, passenger information, and the coordination of revenue protection through manned ticket barriers.

The new e320 Eurostar trains are now operating with more capacity than experienced through Gare du Nord before, so a bigger station facility is needed. Consequently, the station is undergoing major building works, including a refurbishment of the current mezzanine offices to make way for a first class lounge and business annex.

We next visited Ouigo, the low cost high-speed rail

...Transdev Transdev is a private operator best known

to the British as a bus company, but they are intending to take advantage of the liberalisation of the French rail market over the coming years to expand their network, and we enjoyed a detailed discussion concerning the politics and strategy of this long-term plan.

Transdev focuses on a strong safety culture and the company firmly supports a 'Just' Safety Culture and the role of management, including the importance of trust and honesty in their relationship with trade unions, was stressed as being a significant component of this.

service from SNCF at SNCF’s headquarters for a presentation on their operations. Established in 2013, Ouigo operates 102 high-speed services per week to 14 leisure destinations.

The business model mandates departures from secondary stations with operationally-friendly, rather than customer-friendly, paths along with restrictions on luggage allowances and ticket checks prior to boarding. Ouigo does not try to compete with regular TGV services, but rather complements the existing offering.

Each train is comprised of two double deck units for a total of 634 seats. There is no maintenance on trains during the day and no spare set for maintenance either, so all eight sets are in operation 16 hours per day. Each train is stopped twice yearly for a week for heavy maintenance, and the timetable adapts accordingly through scheduled short forming or service revision.

Drivers are allocated from a common SNCF pool, but Train Managers and on-board staff are dedicated to Ouigo. By 2017, the company will also serve Strasbourg and Bourdeaux with four new sets.

AREAS | 19

...Drinks Reception We ended the day at an informal

drinks reception with senior operations managers from SNCF's Montparnesse station in a closed locomotive depot called 'Grand Train'. The depot currently serves as a popular 'pop-up' bar and restaurant, with locomotives stabled around the shed, but is sadly earmarked for demolition very soon.

...National Operations Centre SNCF's National Operations Centre is located to the west of Gare de l'Est station and its

function is very similar to that of a British TOC's Control. We started our tour at the Sud Est Corridor Control Room which looks after Mediterranean-bound TGV services towards Marseille and Nice. The Strasbourg and Germany Route Control operates nearby, while the Northern France Control is based in Lille. The Control at Gare de l’Est plans the service in real time and oversees train regulation, including changing train speed to get the train back into its path when required.

Next we visited the National Control which oversees all rail traffic nationally, including interregional passenger trains and freight trains and which is managed by SNCF Réseau (France's version of Network Rail).

The TGV Traction Maintenance Control is manned by drivers, rather than engineers, who are selected for their high level of both operational and technical knowledge. The staff retain their driving competence and can attend site to recover failed trains if required. The room is decorated with A1-size posters showing a diagram of the cab switches and circuit breakers on each different type of TGV to enable easy clarification with drivers whilst fault-finding. In July 2016 they received 811 calls regarding technical issues, 790 of which they were able to resolve over the phone.

Our next stop was the state-of-the-art National 'Crisis Room', which is opened when required for the purposes of Crisis Management and coordination of regional disruption – generally about three times per week. There are two senior managers present at the centre 24/7; they work one week on and one week off, and stay in a near-by apartment for the ‘on’ week as they must reach the centre within 10 minutes to open the Crisis Room if required.

When dealing with an operating incident, SNCF decides whether to open the Crisis Room based on a hierarchy of incident severity which begins with no disruption and progresses through the following: minor problems that can be dealt with at a local level with delay of up to 15 minutes on LGV lines, a problem with one of the 21 SNCF regions which requires a national focus with delays of up to an hour on LGV lines, important regional disruption with delays of up to two hours on LGV lines, and accidents or major disruptions where the image of SNCF is at risk.

There is a separate Crisis Room, which is used for planned events and operates independently of the 'master' Crisis Room, although it can be used for additional support if needed. It was used recently during the 2016 Euro football tournament to co-ordinate operations after matches finished.

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....Gare Saint Lazare Gare Saint Lazare is the second busiest station in Paris after Gare du Nord, with 1,700 trains and 450,000 passengers arriving into the station every day. The station has a Regional Control overseeing routes out of Paris as far as Cherbourg, Caen, and Le Havre. The RER Line A is also controlled from here; RATP controls traffic within Paris and then hands over to SNCF for journeys up to 50km outside of the city limits.

...Conclusion

Throughout our trip we found that

we share a lot of similar obstacles, dilemmas, and constraints in operating a railway with our French cousins. Whilst the French have split train operations and infrastructure management, SNCF remains a vast operation which is seemingly best managed through the ‘Command and Control’ culture throughout their network. Their railway is managed with well-developed and disciplined processes and structure whilst working to become more customer-centric rather than operationally led.

The Institution is indebted to the following, whose valuable time and input made the trip possible: • Carl Soutra Southern Railway • Lauren Kahn Deputy Director of Gare du Nord, SNCF Voyages • Estelle Cacheux Ouigo • Fares Goucha Director of Rail Safety & Security, Transdev • Jean Claud Gatteuax Sud East Corridor Operations Director, SNCF Voyages • Xavier Cohadon National Operations Director, SNCF • Paul Forquet Gare St Lazare Station Manager, SNCF Voyages

20 | DIARY OF EVENTS/CONTACTS

Diary of Events GTR: Putting together the jigsaw, but are there pieces missing?

Monday 21st November 2016 17:30 for 17:45 London - South East Area On Monday 21st November we welcome Govia Thameslink Railway’s Chief Operating Officer, Dyan Crowther. With Dyan’s extensive operating experience, she will be discussing the current issues facing GTR and the wide reaching impacts they have across the country. Dyan will also be speaking about how the GTR franchise will deliver major benefits such as new trains, refreshed stations and customer service improvements.

IRO North East Area Christmas Party

Thursday 8th December 2016 17:30 - 20:00 York - North East Area All members are welcome to come along and share some refreshments, relax and have a quiet drink. Members of the Council will be happy to discuss what the IRO can offer you.

RILA - Rail Infrastructure Measurement System

Thursday 8th December 2016, 17:30 for 18:00 Manchester – North West and Wales Area

Community Rail - ACORP Wednesday 25th January 2017 17:30 for 18:00 Manchester - North West and Wales Area Please see the website for more information.

Golden Whistle Awards 2017 Friday 27th Januray 2017 12:00-16:00 London - South East Area

Your IRO Area Contacts To get involved with your regional IRO Area or to book a place on any of the events listed please get in touch using the contacts below.

Irish Area:

Hilton Parr i.chairman@railwayoperators.co.uk

Scottish Area:

Contact IRO Stafford Team info@railwayoperators.co.uk

North East Area:

David Monk-Steel northeast@railwayoperators.co.uk

North West Area: Unlike other industry awards, the Golden Whistle awards are dedicated to people who work in or interface with railway operations. They recognise those who have gone above and beyond expectations in order to deliver excellence in railway operations.

The ‘Right Time Railway’ Tuesday 7th February 2017 17:00-19:00 York & North East A presentation by Rob Warnes, Planning and Performance Director, Northern.

Chris Mackenzie nw.chairman@railwayoperators.co.uk

Midlands Area:

Rachel Heath m.events@railwayoperators.co.uk

South West Area:

Martin Bonnington sw.events@railwayoperators.co.uk

South East Area:

Omar Soares se.comms@railwayoperators.co.uk

Young Operators:

Alex Paddon & Kate Oldroyd ne.youngoperators@railwayoperators.co.uk

Railway Safety - “A Chapter of Accidents” Wednesday 15th March 2017 17:00-19:00 | York & North East A presentation by Phil Graham, Signalling Expert.

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