TfW Investment Repaid by Increased Reliability
TfW Class 769 769008 on a test run from Rhymney to Cardiff
What do passengers and consumers demand from any Train Operating Company (TOC)? They need trains to be clean and tidy, comfortable and running on time but, above all they need the trains to be reliable so that, if a train is supposed to depart at 08.30 in order to get them to work, they must have confidence that this will happen – not just on the odd occasion, but every day. Over the years, many TOCs have fallen short in this respect, largely because of old, out of date locomotives and trains. Too often the cry has gone up that certain parts of the British rail network have suffered because the old stock has been pushed to less demanding areas but, sadly, time and time again, it has been shown that this is false economy. Looking at TfW’s current fleet, The Class 170 fleet were introduced in December 2019 and the first Class 769 in November 2020 and already both have seen huge improvements in reliability. The 175 fleet remains consistent with its reliability. One TOC which has taken this matter seriously is Transport for Wales. A great deal of time and money has been invested in getting to the root of the problems and then endeavouring to put matters right. Not only has TfW been investing in new stock but it has also investigated ways of improving the results even more and an example of just how successful this approach is can be seen from the latest figures for reliability of the trains in the network where, for example, TfW trains are now travelling more than 2,000 miles further before they develop a fault. The increase in reliability since October 2018 means those trains can effectively travel twice round the entire Wales and Borders
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network before needing any sort of repair (miles per technical incident). Transport for Wales' Head of Customer Experience and Innovation Barry Lloyd said: “Punctuality always comes top when we look at the factors affecting customer satisfaction, so it’s fantastic to see this recent improvement in performance. A fantastic achievement from all involved and one that our customers would have welcomed.” The improvements have helped TfW to become the third-most improved TOC in Britain during that period, according to the ORR. The improvements have also been key in fleet hitting availability targets every day for more than a year. The figures have also been helped by Covid-19, which has seen fewer trains running, those customers still travelling between October and December 2020 enjoyed a 24.4% improvement in on-time performance against the previous figures in 2019.
How were these Results Achieved?
In attempting to makes these massive steps forward, there is no magic button to press. It has been necessary to look at every aspect of the way TfW’s trains operate, where necessary to work with other organisations, to look at whether there are new technical developments that can be applied, and are new working practices required? The answers to these questions make interesting reading. Barry Lloyd explains.
Joint Seasons Management Group In 2019, Transport for Wales Rail, along Spring 2021
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