(Joint with IMechE railway section)
Speaker: Andy Derbyshire, Chief Operating Officer, Network Rail South East Route
The South East rail network is big: very big and very complex - the most complex in the UK, accounting for 25% of national journeys. I couldn't take in all the facts, but I did get that message!
As anyone who commutes in this area knows, it's not performing as well as we want, for a number of reasons. The challenges faced are immense, such as:
- Loads of conflicting moves
- No ATR (Automatic Train Regulation)
- The busiest stations
- Ancient infrastructure
- Implementing the Thameslink programme at the same time
They can't operate to the current timetable - there's just no resilience in the system.
Their permanent state of crisis management distracts from the focused delivery of improvement plans.
The good, positive news is that they have a vision: Proud to be running .. metro system
Plus a framework (''Framework 42") and a phased route map ("Galaxy plan") to achieve that vision. The three phases are to rebuild the foundations, get brilliant at the basics and then they'll deliver the vision.
The key will be in data collection and analysis - a new team of experts is now in place to do this. When they have identified the causes of the lost minutes across the network, then they'll be able to address them, bit by bit.
By building in remote condition monitoring, they'll not only reduce the safety risk of having "boots on the ballast", but also be in a better position to pre-empt maintenance requirements. With such limited time free to work on the line, it is vital to be as efficient as possible.
Building rapid-response teams with spares close to hand (as per the Underground) will shorten the down time after a failure.
Technology brings opportunity; and the £300 m investment they now have should go a long way.
I'm looking forward to significant and customer-focused improvements...
I'm looking forward to significant and customer-focused improvements...