Railway Industry Magazine: Winter 2023

THE

RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE The official magazine of the Railway Industry Association

Anna Ince MBE Resonate CEO discusses client-supplier relationships.

Tanni Grey-Thompson says disabled rail users need a voice at the table.

Neil Robertson NSAR Chief gives rail supply industry 4.5 out of 10.

HS2 DIVERSITY CHAMPION DAME JUDITH HACKITT TALKS ABOUT

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Attracting the broadest range of talent to the industry will be the most effective way for it to tackle skills shortages.

AUTUMN 2023

IN THIS ISSUE:

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19

Introduction to The Railway Industry magazine Neil Robertson

NSAR Chief gives rail supply industry 4.5 out of 10

Dame Judith Hackitt

HS2 Diversity Champion says industry should seek broadest range of talent

24

24

Industry News

26

New Members

28

Insights from RIA Directors

EVENTFUL 2024 AN YEAR FOR RIA From a Parliamentary Reception in January to the Annual Conference in November, 2024 will be a busy year for RIA events.

To help with your diary planning, here are some of the key dates to note:

04 Chris Jackson Global rail journalist says UK rail is in total disarray

12 Anna Ince MBE

Baroness Grey-Thompson

Resonate CEO urges better client - supplier relations

campaigns for disabled rail users

SAVE THE DATES

16 January

13 June

RIA Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons

Trailblazers Summer Reception at the Kia Oval, London

26-27 March RIA Innovation Conference at the ICC, Newport, Wales

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27 June RIA RISE Awards Dinner at the Landmark, London

November RIA Annual Conference on a date and at a location to be confirmed

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DARREN CAPLAN Introduction to The Railway Industry magazine

Welcome to this special RIA Annual Conference edition of The Railway Industry. I look forward to seeing many of you over the next two days of the conference, whose theme is ‘Promoting the case for rail and investment in uncertain times’.

When we chose that theme, we didn’t know that the Government was about to take an axe to the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2. As we meet now it is evident that there remains a great deal of anger about that decision and real concern about what lies ahead.

We are due to hear from the Rail & HS2 Minister, Huw Merriman MP at the conference, and we will be paying close attention to what he has to say about the new ‘Network North’ rail projects that the Department for Transport has announced. The record of the Government in sticking to projects previously announced is questionable, so we will need to see how many of these projects do actually go ahead.

THE

RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE RAILWAY INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Darren Caplan • Chief Executive David Tonkin • Chairman David Clarke • Technical Director Gaynor Pates • Operations Director

From RIA’s perspective we have two immediate goals. Firstly, we need to do everything that we can to try to keep the flame alive for a possible future Government decision to revive the Birmingham to Manchester route – increased capacity is essential to cater for growth in passengers and freight in the years ahead. So we will continue to oppose actions like a rushed land sale, that would make that prospect more difficult.

Secondly, we will continue to press the Government to deliver on a long list of rail announcements that they have promised.

These include the rail reform legislation that will be needed to pave the way for the creation of Great British Railways. That ought to feature in the 7 November King’s Speech – we will see. Then 21 October saw the fourth anniversary of the DfT’s last Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) announcement, despite a commitment to publish annually. We also urgently need a rolling stock pipeline plan, both for new and refurbished vehicles, because we are currently facing job losses and factory closures, if more visibility and certainty on this is not forthcoming.

Finally, we are still awaiting a rail decarbonisation plan that would give us a clear idea of what percentage of the railways the Government expects to be decarbonised, either through electrification or the adoption of battery or hydrogen technologies.

There may be no realistic prospect of getting this Government to reverse its decision to scrap HS2 Phase 2, which sends a terrible signal to potential overseas investors that the UK simply cannot deliver large national transport infrastructure schemes. However, we

will continue to campaign on HS2 as well as keep up the pressure on Ministers to deliver on all the other rail projects that they have promised but not yet confirmed.

We will remain laser-focused on how we can move forward constructively.

I hope you will agree that this focus on the future is evident from the articles that you will find in this issue of our magazine, which includes expert opinions on how we should tackle skills shortages from HS2 Director, Dame Judith Hackitt, and National Skills Academy for Rail Chief Executive, Neil Robertson.

You can also read a first-hand account of what it is like to be a disabled person travelling by rail in this country from Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE, one of Britain’s greatest Paralympic athletes. We are honoured that she will also deliver our conference after-dinner speech.

Finally, following the acquisition of three Rail Business Daily assets in mid-August, I would like to welcome RBD colleagues who are joining the RIA team at conference for the first time. These acquisitions mean RIA members will get even more benefits and services in the months ahead.

We hope you enjoy them, as well as conference.

Darren Caplan Railway Industry Association Chief Executive

Michael Burrell Editor

Milda Manomaityte • Innovation Director Neil Walker • Exports Director Robert Cook • Policy Director Rose Garber • Member Relations Director RAILWAY INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Kings Buildings, 16 Smith Square London SW1P 3HQ United Kingdom T: +44 (0)207 201 0777 E: RIA@riagb.org.uk W:www.riagb.org.uk

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE IS PRODUCED BY

T: +44 (0)20 7089 2622 E: hello@geniumcreative.com W: www.geniumcreative.com THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

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Chris Jackson

GLOBAL RAIL JOURNALIST PRAISES INNOVATION IN THE UK RAIL SUPPLY INDUSTRY, BUT SAYS RAIL IN THE UK IS IN “A PERIOD OF TOTAL DISARRAY” Chris Jackson, Senior Editor of the Railway Gazette Group, has described the strength of the UK rail supply industry as its “willingness to innovate”, but suggested that its export potential has been hampered by “the weakness of the home market”.

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ackson, until recently Editorin-Chief of Railway Gazette International, which reports

on and is read in 140 different countries, made his comments in a wide-ranging interview with The Railway Industry magazine, drawing on more than 40 years of experience observing and writing on WWW.RIAGB.ORG.UK

railways around the globe and on his organisation’s sponsorship of the UK Rail Business Awards.

He commented that the global rail supply industry has become increasingly polarised between very large companies, often now part of multi-national conglomerates, and smaller companies serving niche

markets, adding that many UK firms share a commitment to innovation and high quality. Both benefit, he said, from the skills of “an army of dedicated, willing people, working to make the industry better”. Small, agile companies had prospered by “spotting their little niches in the market and they come in with their

5 unique product. They do very well with that”.

However, Jackson said he thought that some UK companies seeking to export are hindered by “the weakness of the UK home market, the difficulty of getting products onto Network Rail for administrative reasons and the lack of money for investment. If you go abroad and you try to export your product, the first thing that the potential customer will ask you is ‘where is it being used at home’ and that can be a difficult message for exporters”.

He acknowledged that from 1825 the UK had been a pioneer in the evolution of railway technology (Railway Gazette traces its own heritage back to 1835) and that many companies across the world still look to it for expertise. However, he said that in recent years “we have got ourselves in a period of total disarray and no forward thinking. There are a lot of good people in the railway industry who know what needs to be done, but they are more hamstrung than ever before by direct control from the Government, and they simply have no mandate or no budget to change anything”.

“They know that the only way to reduce the deficits currently faced

by UK rail is to grow the business.

You cannot cut your way to profitability” he said “and yet they are not being allowed to invest or to spend any money in improving the service to make rail more attractive.

Railway managers are not being allowed to manage. When the Government dismantled BR, it was fragmented into over a hundred different organisations. Nobody had the remit to run the whole business. Nobody controls enough of the levers to be able to make a difference. Now post-Covid the Government has got total control of the finances and they are man-

Chris Jackson, Senior Editor of the Railway Gazette Group

“We have got ourselves in a period of total disarray and no forward thinking. There are a lot of good people in the railway industry who know what needs to be done, but they are more hamstrung than ever before by direct control from the Government, and they simply have no mandate or no budget to change anything”. marking to a level that I don’t think we have ever seen before”.

in railways as a tool to drive modal shift and help tackle the challenge of climate change.

THE MOST ANTI-RAIL GOVERNMENT

By contrast, the current UK Government is probably the most

“It goes completely against the grain of what we are seeing in other countries, where there is very strong support from many different governments for further investment

anti-rail that I have ever known.

Meanwhile, nobody within the rail sector seems to be in a position to do anything, and this sense of drift is deeply worrying”.

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

6 Jackson was dismissive of preparations for Great British Railways as “looking at all the minutiae around the edges of the problem. The planning work that I have seen doesn’t seem to address the fundamentals about how to make the business work”. He said that since the publication of the Williams-Shapps plan for rail in 2021 “every pronouncement by Government since that report was published has actually muddied the waters, rather than clarified them”.

“Labour goes on about nationalisation” he said “completely overlooking the fact that everything is totally controlled from the Treasury at the moment anyway. What worries me about Labour is that they appear not to have thought about the fundamentals. They are saying that we will bring it all back under public control, but it is under public control. How are you going to enable the railway to run to fulfil its purpose? I have seen no proposals on that at all”.

being the pioneer. They are slightly hamstrung by having a very old network built to early standards.

Other people have learned from that” “What is truly staggering” he said “is that China now has 50 metro networks, including nine of the world’s ten largest metros, all of which have been built in the last 25 years and they are cutting edge.

They are as good as anything you will find anywhere else. China is way out ahead. In London we haven’t built anything to totally modern standards, the Elizabeth Line is probably the nearest thing in terms of automation, large capacity, high performance, level boarding – although in one respect they managed to get that wrong”.

comments about level boarding on the Elizabeth Line, which, under current plans, will not be available at the Old Oak Common HS2 interchange station currently under construction, Jackson said that was “mind-blowingly bonkers and it is essentially Transport for London’s fault”.

MIND-BLOWINGLY BONKERS

“TfL quite rightly wanted level boarding on the Elizabeth Line” he explained “but they seem to have looked at the problem from a metro mindset, where all lines are self-contained, whereas Crossrail is part of the national network. TfL procured a fleet of high-floor trains and built the nine stations in the centre of Crossrail with platforms four of five inches higher than standard in order to provide level boarding”,

Invited to expand on recent

“But” he said “they now cannot

Asked about HS2, Jackson said, “We as a country have always prided ourselves on our ability to ‘make do and mend’ and get away with doing things on the cheap and never doing things properly. Even when we have adopted a major project, we have always then penny-pinched or cut it down or deferred bits of it.

This is exactly what is happening to HS2 at the moment. The Eastern leg got chopped off. We saved a tenth of the cost and lost two thirds of the benefits, so totally destroyed the business case”. It was he said another example of the Treasury “knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing”.

Having also worked as Editor of Metro Report International, Jackson is well-placed to look at the London Underground in the context of metro systems in cities around the world. “As with the railways” he said “they suffer the penalty of WWW.RIAGB.ORG.UK

“Go to South Africa, look at the iron ore trains, 300 and something wagons; the mining railways in Australia, 30,000 tonnes on one train with nobody on board, it is all remote-controlled.”

7 have level boarding at all the other 30-plus stations like Old Oak Common because those are part of the national network and have to be compatible with the standards.

Several train operators have procured trains that do give level boarding at standard height platforms – it has been done. The right answer would be to modify the central stations to the proper standards, but that can’t happen without new trains, so it’s a long way off and it wouldn’t be cheap. I fear we will end up with yet another fudge”.

Asked to list the railways around the world that had most impressed him, Jackson said “having ridden around on China’s high-speed network, on the Chinese metros, what they have built is really spectacular - having the advantage, of course, of copying 200 years elsewhere and going in and building a new railway.”

“What the United States freight railways do with their heavy freight trains is seriously impressive. The dedicated freight corridors in India, which are only just being finished – you see a freight train that is a mile and a half long and it has got 250 containers on it. Go to South Africa, look at the iron ore trains, 300 and something wagons; the mining railways in Australia, 30,000 tonnes on one train with nobody on board, it is all remote-controlled”.

“Everyone talks about the railways in Switzerland. Integration of Swiss public transport – the railways, the ferries, the buses – they all meet at stations, they all connect, and the punctuality is bang on. That integrated nature of the service is brilliant. What Austria is doing with its special promotional fares to encourage more rail use. You buy an annual ticket, and it works out at €3 a day for unlimited rail travel anywhere in the country”.

Jackson traces his lifelong interest in railways back to the age of two when he became aware of The Railway

“Having ridden around on China’s high-speed network, on the Chinese metros, what they have built is really spectacular - having the advantage, of course, of copying 200 years elsewhere and going in and building a new railway”.

Series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and from a childhood growing up next to a rail line in London that still had steam trains. Now, he said “it’s the complexity and the economic impact of railways that really keep me interested”. When he started his long career as a railway journalist

manual typewriters were still in use and fax machines were the height of novelty. A huge amount has changed since then both in the media and on the railways and Jackson concludes, “it has been an absolutely fascinating, if somewhat scary, roller coaster ride”.

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

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National Skills Academy for Rail

SKILLS CHIEF GIVES RAIL SUPPLY INDUSTRY 4.5 OUT OF 10 FOR INVESTMENT IN SKILLS Neil Robertson, Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR), told The Railway Industry magazine that he would award the UK rail supply industry 4.5 marks out of 10 for its efforts to invest to tackle skills shortages and innovate.

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ut he acknowledged that supply chain caution in investing in skills could be seen as a rational response to “short termism in procurement thinking” and said that Network Rail, the Office of Road and Rail and the Department for Transport should all do more to incentivise investment in skills and innovation.

Dyan Crowther, NSAR’s Chair, has said that the skills shortages facing the rail industry are “becoming stark”. Asked to quantify the scale of the problem, Robertson drew attention to NSAR’s latest 2023 Rail Workforce Survey. “We have got very precise data” he said “that shows, despite very hard work by

lots of people in increasing the supply of apprentices, the gap is getting bigger because of an ageing workforce. Also, you can just look in the papers and see projects like HS2 being questioned because of rising costs and a major factor is wage inflation due to skills shortages”.

Against a background of an expected 6% growth in rail for the next few years, he said that recruitment and training would need to grow by 12% because of the number of people retiring. Up to 30% of the current workforce of nearly 250,000 could be lost to retirement by the end of 2030 and would need replacing. “Twice as many are retiring as you would normally expect due to the higher

average age in rail” he said.

Robertson said “the rail supply industry overall is investing just under half of what we would expect a mature supply chain to be investing in innovation and skills.

They are investing some, but it is not nearly enough”. He pointed to persistent skills shortages in signalling and telecommunications, electrification and plant, systems engineering and project management, together with emerging skills shortages in data scientists. He said these shortages drive up wage inflation, which in turn results in higher costs for clients, and argued that a concerted drive to tackle such shortages could

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

10 reduce unit costs for supply chain clients by 10%.

He said that the rail supply industry still has more to do to encourage recruitment from minority ethnic groups but praised what he described as a concerted effort on gender balance. More than four out of five rail sector workers are men, but he said “we have doubled the number of women in the industry, and they are typically younger on average and in slightly higher skilled positions so, even if we did nothing new, they would move up through.

So there has been some progress, but we need to be more scientific in our approach to attracting people”.

“My strong recommendation is about work experience. With work experience we can go and target particular groups that we want to see better represented because it is pre-employment, so there is no discrimination”.

A WIDER RANGE OF TALENT Asked what more the rail supply industry could do to tackle skills shortages, Robertson made two suggestions on work experience and job requirements that, he said, would help to attract a wider range of talent to replace those retiring.

“My strong recommendation is about work experience. With work experience we can go and target particular groups that we want to see better represented because it is pre-employment, so there is no discrimination. We can say, for example, we will have work experience for only girls and then say that we will guarantee everyone in that work experience a job interview.

That is the thing that we haven’t exploited, and we need to do next and the same would apply to young white males in Huddersfield as part of the trans-Pennine project or young black males in London as part of a tube upgrade”.

On job requirements, he said that currently many recruitment advertisements say, “we want ten years’ experience in the rail industry”.

“The practical effect of that is that when somebody leaves, we typically recruit somebody quite old to replace them. We are not recruiting

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enough young people to move the dial on the demography. There is no evidence that ten years’ experience is the right proxy for competence and capability. In fact, given that we want a slightly different kind of delivery – more technically informed, more financially literate - it could actually be a disadvantage. So that is something we need to look at. That is something the supply chain could do tomorrow, to be more open to different kinds of experience”.

Reflecting more broadly on how players beyond the rail supply industry could help to incentivise investment in skills, he said “we should look at those that are making and influencing buying decisions – Network Rail, Transport for London and HS2 – but equally we can point to the Government. The on-off nature of investment creates uncertainty, but the real problem here is we don’t create an optimal environment for investment”.

He suggested that other UK industrial sectors, including renewable energy, have done a better job than rail in creating an environment that encourages investment by using innovative contractual mechanisms designed to incentivise investments at the least cost to the consumer. “The 15-year contracts, with some stability around value, mean that people invest, so I firmly believe our supply chain would invest more if they were incentivised to do so. How can we change the way we buy to lean more on the private sector? I believe that there will be more of that in the new world because there isn’t the public money.

Some of the political parties have quite interesting ideas in this space”.

THE RIGHT CONDITIONS TO INVEST “Our regulatory regime is very good on safety” he said, “but hasn’t, working with the clients, created as good opportunities to invest as other sectors. The Office of Road and Rail

11 have a safety brief, which they are excellent at, and an economic brief, which I think should have more teeth and be simpler, sharper and stronger.

They could do more if they were allowed to. It is about creating the right conditions for the private sector to invest, and we haven’t got it now”.

Here, he said, the ultimate responsibility rests with the Department for Transport. “We are not seeing great leadership at this stage. We have seen flashes of it, for example with Living Lab – the Government/industry collaboration on smarter transport infrastructure - and there are some great Ministers, but senior railway people have never been properly asked to prioritise money. They were prioritised on delivery. The normal disciplines around money and the normal sophisticated thought about how to reduce unit costs - that just doesn’t exist because we have never asked people to prioritise that. So let’s try it”.

Robertson said there is clear evidence that, with certainty and the right incentives, the rail supply sector can offer clients both safe delivery and value for money. “They are not mutually exclusive” he said, “you can have your cake and eat it”.

He points to the examples of rail electrification programmes in Scotland and in Germany. In Scotland, he said, “the unit costs have been amongst the best in Europe because they have had a sustainable, calm, predictable programme where a bunch of people were equipped to do it and then they just moved along. It shows it can be done. So what is the lesson of that for HS2?

Build HS2, build all of it, but maybe take a bit longer so that we are not creating the capacity questions that are so dogging us at the moment”.

Similarly, he said that in Germany “their unit costs are very low because they do a predictable amount of work each year. Predictability is the way forward here”.

“We are not recruiting enough young people to move the dial on the demography. There is no evidence that ten years’ experience is the right proxy for competence and capability”.

Neil Robertson, Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Rail (NSAR) THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

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Anna Ince MBE

LET’S SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY OF RAIL REFORM TO ENHANCE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIENTS AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN SAYS RESONATE CEO, ANNA INCE MBE The UK’s rail supply companies and clients need to work more effectively together to “be more outcome focussed around improving customer performance and delivering an efficient railway”, Anna Ince, CEO of the rail technology company, Resonate, has told The Railway Industry magazine.

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n a wide-ranging interview, Ince, who is also Vice Chair of the Rail Supply Group, said that the rail supply industry, with its c. 200,000 employees, needs to be “part of creating the future. Otherwise, we will continue to be in a somewhat parent-child relationship, a problem that is equally caused by clients and suppliers. Together we need to work out how we specify work around outcomes, how clients get value for money and how the supply base can make reasonable money”.

She emphasised Resonate’s unusual position as an SME that brings together experts in the rail industry, many of whom had previously worked at British Rail Research or Transport Consultants International, with high-end information technology staff. About a third of the staff have deep railway knowledge, while the rest are IT specialists. “So that combination” she said, “means that we can create some really clever products, but they are grounded in the reality of running a railway”.

The Derby-headquartered company, with bases in London and Milton Keynes, was an early adopter in the rail sector of innovative digital technologies that were already beginning to be deployed in other sectors, such as aviation.

Ince said that, as passenger and freight traffic had grown on the railways, it had become increasingly evident that digital systems would be needed to support the delivery of a more punctual and reliable railway more cost-effectively. Digitisation would give railway staff the tools

that they needed to make better, more informed, and more consistent decisions. Today, with Network Rail as its biggest customer, Resonate provides the rail sector with solutions for traffic management, signalling control and operational management – “all helping to run a better railway”, she said.

SKIN IN THE GAME She suggested that the industry should recognise the validity of points made by Network Rail and the Department for Transport about companies not sharing in the risk to achieve common objectives.

Ince said that in the past rail supply companies had not had as much ‘skin in the game’ or taken as much risk as companies in other industries that she had worked in.

To illustrate her comment about ‘skin in the game’, she gave the example of how Resonate had convinced Network Rail to trial Luminate, its innovative traffic management system. She said “instead of buying our system up front, we said we will commission it, you can use it free of charge for a year and if you don’t want to keep it, we will remove it without charge. Of, if you keep it, we will share the benefits with you.

Network Rail was open for business, and they went for it. So, they can accept commercial innovation and they do”.

Asked what had changed in the industry in her 16 years since she became Resonate CEO, Ince said “Network Rail today is a very different business. The biggest change has

“The rail supply industry, with its c. 200,000 employees, needs to be “part of creating the future. Otherwise, we will continue to be in a somewhat parentchild relationship, a problem that is equally caused by clients and suppliers”.

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been since Andrew Haines became the Chief Executive. He has put the focus on what our industry is all about: delivering our promises to customers. That is the most important thing, and it is a message that we have got to get through to everyone in this industry. We should not be here because we like technology, infrastructure and trains nor because we think that we have a right to exist. We are here because we are providing a service to passengers and freight users, and I think that the relentless focus that Andrew has put on that is the real game-changer”.

DATA, RAIL REFORM AND COST Discussing the work of the Rail Supply Group partnership between Government and industry, Ince focussed on the three areas of data, rail reform and cost.

On data, she paid tribute to the leadership role of the Group’s Chair, James Bain, in kick-starting action to create a rail industry data marketplace designed particularly to make it easier for new entrants to the sector to offer practical and innovative solutions. The £10m cost of setting up the data marketplace is being shared by the industry and the Department for Transport.

On rail reform, Ince said that both the Great British Railways Transition Team and the Department for Transport had felt that the Rail Supply Group would be a good place to bring cross-industry views together. As a result, Group members had sat on various rail reform committees giving advice on practicalities and “particularly trying to ensure that we create a very different relationship between the supply chain and its clients – one where we are more trusted partners and where we would support much more on strategy”.

On cost, she said that the postCovid rise in leisure traffic and fall in

15 commuter and business traffic had “massive implications on revenues.

That is something that the supply base can’t ignore. Now we need mature conversations about value for money and the biggest change would be if we could balance operating costs and capital costs better, but there hasn’t been the

real opportunity and I think this is where the cost and the reform come together”. She said that the Rail Supply Group has identified a series of cost themes on which to focus with the objective of securing short, medium and long-term wins, concluding that “we are all very optimistic that working in a different

way will enable the best supply chain to be brought to whatever the opportunities and challenges are”.

Anna Ince was recognised in this year’s New Year’s Honours List with an MBE for ‘services to the railway industry’.

“The Rail Supply Group has identified a series of cost themes on which to focus with the objective of securing short, medium and long-term wins.

We are all very optimistic that working in a different way will enable the best supply chain to be brought to whatever the opportunities and challenges are”.

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Baroness Grey-Thompson

ITS TIME TO GIVE DISABLED RAIL USERS A VOICE AT THE TABLE SAYS TANNI GREY-THOMPSON Baroness Grey-Thompson, a crossbench peer and one of Britain’s greatest Paralympic athletes, is campaigning for a step change in disabled people’s experience of travelling by rail in the UK.

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he told The Railway Industry magazine that the plan to create Great British Railways “is

the best shot we have got as disabled people of bringing about change because It is about having a body that can knock heads together”.

Asked “if you could change one thing to improve the experience of disabled people who travel by rail, what would it be?” she replied “The voice of disabled people being round the table at every level of decisionmaking. That would do lots”.

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Grey-Thompson, who won 11 gold medals during her remarkable Paralympic career, has become a relentless campaigner for a better deal for the disabled on the UK’s railways, regularly take to X, formerly Twitter, to recount her experiences as a wheelchair user travelling by rail.

Earlier this year she gave evidence to a House of Commons Transport Select Committee inquiry into accessible transport, and she is the guest speaker at RIA’s 2023 Annual Conference Dinner.

Of her experiences as someone

who regularly commutes from her home in the North East of England to London to attend the House of Lords, she said “My aspiration is to have the same miserable experience of commuting as everyone else and I don’t have that. That is what I aspire to, so it is still way too hit and miss.

Our legal right to ‘turn up and go’ doesn’t really exist. The system is not joined up or connected so there are just way too many variables in terms of having a good experience”.

She recalled that a senior manager of a train operating company had

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Baroness Grey-Thompson

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

18 recently asked her ‘can you give us an example of a brilliant experience that you have had?’ and she replied ‘well, I am really sorry just actually getting on and off a train in a timely manner is just the absolute basic of what we should expect’. “We have now been told” she said “that I am meant to turn up at the origin station more than 30 minutes before my train – and that is if I have booked assistance. I find that quite annoying because it just takes longer to do everything and then there is the anxiety about if you are going to get off at the other end”.

Grey-Thompson explained that step-free access has two aspects: step-free to the platform and then step-free to the train. Both are important for disabled people, she said, but it is the need to be helped on and off a train with a ramp that is often of greatest concern. All frontfacing staff are supposed to have training in putting a ramp down but in her experience finding that help isn’t always easy. “I just want to get on and off a train” she said “but, as a disabled person it gets exhausting. I had to crawl off the train today. Will I complain about it? Well, no, I have got 20 other things I need to be doing with my day rather than filling out the form to complain. So I don’t think the number of missed assists gets reported properly”.

A new concern this year is the plan to close most rail ticket offices and replace them with ‘roving teams’.

On this, Grey-Thompson said “All we have been told is it will be better for us, but we have got no examples of where it is going to be better. There has been no impact assessment of roving teams. I think that it will remove our legal right to turn up and go. We will be forced to book a train and the only way we will be able to get a train is if we book more than two hours in advance”.

Then there are the plans for Old Oak Common station, the London interchange between HS2 and the WWW.RIAGB.ORG.UK

Elizabeth Line, where level boarding will not be available for Elizabeth Line services. Commenting on this, Grey-Thompson, who sat on the board of Transport for London for ten years, said “The central bit of the Elizabeth Line is step-free and that is brilliant, but this is a travesty. I mean ‘come on guys, you can do better’.

Why is it being allowed to happen?

I don’t know what we have to do to get through that this is just not good enough”.

Turning to how “the daily grind for disabled people” might be improved, Grey-Thompson says that for 30 years the Department for Transport has failed to give sufficient priority to access for the disabled. “In terms of step-free access” she said, “they have kicked the can down the road by allowing derogations left, right and centre instead of biting the bullet to bring about change”.

In comments particularly relevant to the rail supply industry, she spoke of the need for “a better mechanism for procuring trains. Our platform heights are a nightmare. Where you could get step-free to work, we don’t have the trains that allow step-free.

It is expensive. It is difficult. But it doesn’t feel like we ever really take that big step”.

are not all terribly high up in the company”. Similarly, they all have advisory panels, “but what role and responsibility do they have? They are advisory, so it is easy to ignore them”.

She is keen to emphasise that many people across the rail industry are strong advocates for proper access but says that the central issue is not about individuals but about the lack of a joined-up railway system. “It is just not connected. You have got all the different TOCs. You have got Network Rail. Different people run different stations. It is just completely disjointed. You have got a system where the communication between people at times doesn’t happen and, as a disabled person it gets exhausting”.

Hence her conclusion that the creation of an over-arching body that could knock heads together and provide guidance across the whole system represents the best chance to change things for the better for all the disabled people “who just want to get on and off a train”.

Grey-Thompson said she accepts that “there is not a bottomless pit of money”, but also pointed out that disabled people are 20% of the population. While acknowledging that each of the train operating companies has a disability manager, she observed that “they

“I just want to get on and off a train but, as a disabled person it gets exhausting. I had to crawl off the train today. Will I complain about it? Well, no, I have got 20 other things I need to be doing with my day rather than filling out the form to complain.

So I don’t think the number of missed assists gets reported properly”.

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Dame Judith Hackitt

HS2 DIVERSITY CHAMPION SAYS THE COMPANY WILL CONTINUE TO SEEK THE BROADEST RANGE OF TALENT Dame Judith Hackitt, HS2 non-executive director and board diversity champion, has said that for good business reasons the company will continue to promote diversity both for its own benefit and for that of the wider rail supply industry.

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he told The Railway Industry magazine that, while the axing of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 is “disappointing” for all those working for HS2, the company will stand by its commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion because attracting the broadest range of talent to the industry will be the most effective way for it to tackle skills shortages.

“What we will hold on to” she said “is that we are doing this for the long term, not just in building a railway that is going to last for a hundred years or more, but also this is about using the opportunity presented by HS2 to change the culture and diversity of this sector for all infrastructure projects going

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forward. If we set some new standards, raise the bar in that respect, then we need to keep going, because others will benefit from that”.

Dame Judith said “as a country, we are short of skills, short of talented people in the right places, doing the right jobs. Getting the best people out there of whatever ethnic background or gender to be part of the workforce is absolutely fundamental to the economic success of this country for the future. That is why it makes me angry when I see this being criticised as ‘just wokery’. Why wouldn’t you want the biggest pool of talent you could possibly have? For me, anyone who sees it otherwise is operating in the dark

“The company will stand by its commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion because attracting the broadest range of talent to the industry will be the most effective way for it to tackle skills shortages”.

21 ages”.

Speaking as someone who has worked throughout her career in the male-dominated world of engineering, she said that rail has a big job to do to convince women that it can offer “exceptionally rewarding careers” for them, and that today’s rail industry is “very different from the way people perceive it to be”. In HS2 40% of the executive team are female, as are 36% of the directors.

She explained how changing some basic recruitment practices has helped HS2 to recruit a wide range of talent. These include ‘blind sifting’ (where identifying information about applicants is anonymised to avoid unconscious bias) and checking the wording of its recruitment advertising to ensure that it doesn’t say anything that would make particular groups of people feel excluded. “They are

pretty basic, simple things” she said, “and they don’t cost a lot of money, but increasing the supply of talent can yield huge benefits, including monetary benefits, not just for HS2, but for the industry for the long term”.

Dame Judith emphasised that a commitment to EDI is part of HS2’s contracts with its Tier 1 contractors.

“Having set our own targets” she said, “we then expect them to follow a similar path, to go for EDI accreditation themselves and to set themselves targets for diversity in their workforce and also explicit in that expectation we set for our Tier 1s is that we will then cascade this down the supply chain”.

TRYING TO CHANGE THE CULTURE “What is important to remember” she said “is that this is that this

“As a country, we are short of skills, short of talented people in the right places, doing the right jobs. Getting the best people out there of whatever ethnic background or gender to be part of the workforce is absolutely fundamental to the economic success of this country for the future”.

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is an extremely mobile industry and many of the people that we currently employ on HS2, whatever the future of HS2, they are going to move. They are going to work on other projects, and we are trying to change the culture more broadly through influence and through demonstration of good practice so that we make a lasting change in the industry, not just for this one organisation”.

Last year the ethnic minority representation in HS2’s Tier 1 supply chain increased by 2% to 20%.

Similarly, numbers of females in Tier 1 increased by 2% to 30%. Dame Judith described that as “moving in the right direction, numbers I think we can be proud of, but not complacent about, but it does set the bar for others to try to achieve the same and better”.

HS2’s HR Director, Shira Johnson, has said that, despite the company’s EDI achievements, there is more to be done in the months and years ahead.

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Asked what this includes, Dame Judith said “recruitment is the easy bit. Retention is the next challenge.

That is where our focus needs to go, into ensuring that, having recruited a diverse workforce, that we continue to develop them and ensure that the culture in the organisation is one that they feel comfortable and safe in – and I mean safe not just in a physical way, but also in a way that they feel psychologically safe and able to be themselves at work”.

She said that HS2 also has “some way to go” on gender pay, “but we are moving in the right direction.

Every year our ethnicity and gender balance are going in the right direction towards our targets and every year our pay gap is lessening, and we are committed to keeping that going”.

Dame Judith said that, for HS2, EDI is also about “thinking about the people who will use the railway and ensuring that the way in which we design it makes it accessible

“Rail has a big job to do to convince women that it can offer exceptionally rewarding careers for them, and that today’s rail industry is very different from the way people perceive it to be”. to all of the people that will use it, whether that be people with physical limitations, such as wheelchairs, pushchairs, mothers and children, but also thinking about people who are hard of hearing, restricted in their vision – looking at all of that”.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE The HS2 line will be wheelchair accessible at every station on its route, but Dame Judith acknowledged that “the part of Old

23 Oak Common that is still a work in progress is improving accessibility for people who transfer from HS2 onto the Elizabeth Line or the Great Western line (where, with the current design, level boarding will not be possible). Clearly, that is not just down to HS2. That is where we have to interface with Network Rail. We also have to talk to DfT and others about how we can do the best we

can in modifying what is already there”.

not necessarily at huge cost but will make a big difference”.

She suggested that one option could be to emulate London Underground’s Victoria line, where every station has a part of the platform which is wheelchairaccessible because the platform has been raised in one section “precisely for that reason. So there are ways and means of doing things that are

Dame Judith Hackitt joined the Board of HS2 in 2019. She is a former Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive and was chair of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Safety, commissioned by the Government following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Last year the ethnic minority representation in HS2’s Tier 1 supply chain increased by 2% to 20%.

Similarly, numbers of females in Tier 1 increased by 2% to 30%.

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Industry News Scotland’s Railway’s Strategic Business Plan has been published 70 rail business leaders wrote to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, urging him not to delay in bringing forward legislation to enact the Government’s rail reform plans in the coming Parliamentary year.

Legislation is needed to create Great British Railways (GBR), which will bring track and train operations together within one body.

the West Midlands. The revised West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy sets out a clear long-term plan for the regeneration of the region’s rail network.

Stephen Morgan is appointed Shadow Rail Minister

Two recent tenders for rolling stock There have been two recent tenders for rolling stock; up to 70 new or refurbished multiple units for Chiltern Railways and 450 new multiple units for Northern Trains.

This comes following a recent RIA report, The UK Rolling Stock Industry: Making 2023 the year of opportunity not crisis, which highlighted the risks to the UK supply chain if orders for new rolling stock were not forthcoming.

Publication of the revised West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy There has been a publication of the revised West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy which includes the delivery of the Midlands Rail Hub and several new stations across WWW.RIAGB.ORG.UK

At the start of September Sir Keir Starmer reshuffled both his front bench and his junior ministers. The outgoing Shadow Rail Minister Tan Dhesi was replaced by Stephen Morgan MP. Stephen Morgan is MP for Portsmouth South and previously served on Labour’s frontbench as Shadow Minister for Schools from December 2021-September 2023.

Rail decarbonisation funding commitment by the Scottish Government Transport Minister - Fiona Hyslop has confirmed £140m funding for the East Kilbride Enhancement Project which will mean a more reliable and zero-carbon train service for passengers. The rail supply chain has a good delivery record in Scotland and is working closely with Scotland’s Railway to innovate and continuously improve.

Government is working urgently with train manufacturer Alstom to secure the jobs of its staff and suppliers The Department for Transport said that “Rail manufacturing plays an important role in growing the UK economy and delivering better services for passengers. The Government remains committed to supporting the entire sector”, and that it is seeking to help develop a sustainable future for the Derby site.

ORR review of rail strategy highlights need to build on good industry collaboration Rail industry reliability plans show good understanding of the network’s problems and commitments to improve, but there is scope for better sharing of best practice according to the Office of Rail and Road’s (ORR) recommendations from its review.

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CEO Mark Thurston has announced he will be leaving the organisation in the autumn Chairman Jon Thompson – who joined the megaproject in 2021 – will step up as interim Chief Executive. The resignation comes at the height of the construction of HS2 phase one, with major works taking place at more than 350 sites between London and the West Midlands.

The DfT has outlined a pipeline of contracts for East West Rail and High Speed 2

Rail travel is far more carbon efficient than previously thought

Procurement will commence before the end of the year for contracts for both major projects.

One contract listed in the DfT’s pipeline is worth £10M and seeks parliamentary agents for Phase 2b of HS2, Crewe to Manchester.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), the association of train companies and National Rail that works to coordinate Britain’s railways, commissioned the development of the tool so that they could measure their carbon footprint properly.

Network Rail Scotland published its £4.2bn, fiveyear plan on 27 July, as it set out its ambition to deliver a safe, greener and more reliable railway Major investments in renewing the railway infrastructure, tackling climate change, greater use of technology, improving train performance and growing passenger and freight numbers are central to the five-year plan.

The UK Government has announced an indefinite extension of the CE mark recognition beyond the 2024 deadline The extension will cut business costs and time required to place products on the market and benefit consumers. The announcement is part of a wider package on smarter regulations designed to ease business burdens and help grow the economy by cutting barriers and red tape.

UK to associate to Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes through a bespoke new agreement with the EU. UK researchers can apply for grants and bid to take part in projects under the Horizon programme, with certainty that the UK will be participating as a fully associated member for the remaining life of the programme to 2027.

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RIA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS Q3 2023

Sweco Sweco is Europe’s leading design, engineering, environment and regulatory consultancy. For the future-facing development of transport infrastructure, Sweco understands the need to balance the continuing demand for access by car while supporting and promoting more sustainable and active travel modes.

Airquick Airquick brings together specialist engineering knowledge of rail depot plant and industrial compressed air systems. Their core products are continually honed, whilst the systems into which they are installed are unique solutions to meet each client’s specific demands.

Rainford Solutions Rainford Solutions design and manufacture enclosures for critical infrastructure operators, systems integrators and global OEMs spanning markets including rail, fixed and mobile networks, road, data centres, defence, water and energy utilities. The “Rainford Way” means your equipment will perform at its best, achieving the highest levels of reliability and minimum in-life maintenance costs.

Milgate Millgate can uniquely support both your IT and telephony requirements to provide you with a seamless, integrated service across your entire network.

MTMS MTMS are specialist providers of depot maintenance and suppliers of chemicals, consumables, paints and coatings for the transport industry.

MTMS are a focused specialist maintenance supplier, with highly skilled staff with a ‘can-do’ philosophy.

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Mainframe Communications Ltd Mainframe Communications Ltd have been a supplier to the telecoms sector since the introduction of fibre into the European communication networks in the 1980’s. Mainframe Communications have developed a comprehensive range of optical fibre and associated management products to serve operators of telecommunication systems.

The CCTV Company The CCTV Company is a complete security service provider with a wealth of knowledge and highly skilled engineers. They provide every customer with a bespoke solution tailored to suit their exacting security requirements. They offer 24/7, 365 days a year on-site and remote support, ensuring that they are there no matter when you need help.

IBM IBM brings together all the necessary technology and services, regardless of where those solutions come from, to help clients solve the most pressing business problems. In 2021, IBM furthered their tradition of leadership in sustainability, announcing a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 across all the countries in which they operate.

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

INSIGHTS from RIA Directors Gaynor Pates Operations Director

RIA SURVEYS, AND WHY WE ARE SEEKING TO ENHANCE OUR COMMUNICATIONS FOLLOWING MEMBER FEEDBACK Every year, RIA runs a programme of independent surveys to help us stay on track and understand member expectations.

Among a variety of areas we probe on, the annual programme usually includes: ■ Measuring ourselves using the Net Promoter Scoring system; ■ Asking a sample of members and stakeholders to suggest just ‘one thing’ that would improve RIA; and ■ Asking a large group of members how happy they are with their RIA membership, and enabling them to provide further comment on their response.

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SO WHY SHOULD YOU TAKE A MOMENT TO RESPOND TO ‘YET ANOTHER SURVEY’?

RIA belongs to its members. This fact is baked into our Articles of Association and whatever RIA does on behalf of its members, it aims to grow and improve the rail sector. Your feedback is a direct contribution to this wider goal. It is not about giving RIA staff a pat on the back – rather, it is about helping us to prioritise our efforts for maximum benefit to the industry.

Look at our member benchmarking survey (below) and you will see a 25% increase since 2017 in the proportion of members who tell us they are

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‘really happy’ with their membership, up from 34% to 59%. As our membership base has grown, the proportion of members saying they are either ‘happy’ or ‘quite happy’ has grown to 89%.

One simple question – ‘How likely are you to recommend RIA? ‘– gives us valuable information on how likely it is that you, our members, will speak up about RIA, to be, in effect, brand advocates for the association. In marketing industry jargon it is our Net Promoter Score. Asked ‘How likely are you to recommend RIA on a scale of 1 to 10?’, ‘promoters’ respond with a score of 9 or 10, ‘passives’ respond with a score of 7 or 8 and ‘detractors’ respond with a score of 1 to 6.

In our most recent survey in April this year, 58% of you categorised yourselves as ‘promoters’. Taking all the responses together, we can calculate an industry standard Net Promoter Score. These scores can range from Minus 100 to Plus 100.

Last year RIA’s score was +44 and this year it went up to +49. The creators of NPS, Bain & Company, suggest that any score above zero is good and above 20 is favourable.

Above 50 is excellent and we are now within touching distance of that.

Our aim is to see our score go higher every year.

However we are not complacent which is why we also ask members what one thing we could improve.

Our ‘one thing to improve’ question aims to make it quick and easy for you to give us your candid opinion on how we could do even better.

they should.

As a result of your feedback, last year we commissioned an external review of our member communications.

This has led to us embarking on a project, with external experts, to change the way we work, and the systems we use, in order to communicate our key messages more clearly.

So what have you been telling us? More recent surveys have highlighted that, with the volume of information we send out, key messages can be missed. For example, we have seen an increasing number of responses saying, ‘RIA should address decarbonisation and rail’s environmental and social impact’.

RIA has actually been very active in these areas, but it seems that messages about our work in these areas may not have cut though to some of these respondents.

This winter, we will be creating what we hope will be a better digital experience for you, our members, so that you can more easily find the information you need. We may not get everything right, so, when you see those changes, planned for the first half of 2024, please do let us know your thoughts. Both positive and critical feedback can help us to keep evolving to meet your needs so that we provide the best possible service to you, our valued members.

Some members have simply said that they are getting too many messages, and it is too difficult to pick out the newest or most relevant information from our regular weekly emails. It is frustrating to know that some members are unable to process all the information we share and are therefore perhaps gaining less benefit from membership than

“This winter, we will be creating what we hope will be a better digital experience for you, our members, so that you can more easily find the information you need”.

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INSIGHTS from RIA Directors Robert Cook Policy Director

SHAPING THE FUTURE: DEVELOPING A RAIL MANIFESTO As the UK gears up for a general election in 2024, RIA will be leading the charge in making the case for the rail sector. As the parties launch their manifestos, RIA will also set out a vision for the UK rail industry and outline how the government can bring this vision to life.

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IA’s member companies are actively involved in this process, with their insights and expertise helping to craft key messages through a survey over the summer and three manifesto workshops held recently. In this article, we delve into the crucial takeaways from these workshops, highlighting the priorities and aspirations our members identified.

RAIL REFORM, FUNDING, AND FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY One of the workshops centred on the pressing issues of rail reform, funding, and financial sustainability.

The overarching message from this workshop was the urgent need for clear and decisive action on rail reform. Participants stressed the importance of providing a clear path forward to promote confidence in investment.

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The industry is at a critical juncture, and a establishing a single guiding mind at arm’s length from government (whether or not it is called Great British Railways) would be important progress, along with the publication of a clear longterm strategy that sets ambitious outcomes.

Closely related is the need for certainty over investment plans – especially for major programmes, where political support can fluctuate.

The current ambiguity creates barriers, reduces private investment, risks job losses and hampers progress.

The workshop also emphasized the importance of unlocking private investment in the rail sector. The government alone cannot address all policy priorities, and it is essential to

clear the way for private investment to support the government’s efforts.

To achieve success, government needs to pass relevant reform legislation, confirm its commitment to major schemes, revisit the rules on private investment for infrastructure, and promote open data sharing across the industry. Growing passenger and freight revenues will be key to achieving financial sustainability, and new retail and ticketing strategies and technologies are needed to achieve this.

What the government should avoid doing includes commissioning further reviews and continued micromanagement – they should step back to enable a more intelligent client approach. The strong focus on cost-cutting following the pandemic poses a risk of declining service quality and

31 ridership. Instead, embracing the knowledge and skills within the supply chain is essential, focusing on creating value first.

with bodies such as the National Skills Academy for Rail.

Supporting internships and apprenticeships for less advantaged individuals was another key recommendation. Improved communication and alignment between government bodies, educational institutions, and the industry were seen as necessary to streamline the education landscape.

NET ZERO A second workshop focused on the critical issue of achieving net-zero emissions within the rail industry.

Participants stressed the need to advocate for decarbonisation, not only as an environmentally responsible choice but also as a costsaving measure. Decarbonisation, especially through electrification, is more affordable, reliable and energy efficient in the long run.

A clear long-term strategy for decarbonising the sector is imperative, accompanied by credible 5- and 10-year plans to achieve sustainability goals. It is essential to ensure consistency and alignment across track and train decisions.

To promote the steps needed to decarbonise rail, we will need to align our rail ‘asks’ with national priorities such as levelling up and productivity.

We need to measure and promote the wider value of rail across the UK, showcasing how it contributes to societal, environmental, and economic goals.

Specific calls for action on Net Zero included advocating for no new diesel trains, and a rolling programme of electrification whilst bringing forward fleet orders for low carbon rolling stock using new traction methods. And at the same time as we decarbonise, we must ensure climate resilience is reflected in all future rail policies and funding decisions.

INDUSTRY SKILLS The third workshop focused on addressing the skills gap in the rail industry. Participants highlighted the need for a fundamental shift in the education system to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry application.

Encouraging a passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields early in students’ lives is crucial to prepare them for STEM careers in the rail sector. Asking governments to mandate STEM Governors in schools, along with teacher training on STEM subjects, were suggested as practical steps. Embedding STEM education from an early age was seen as essential. Measuring social mobility throughout the education system, reducing qualification barriers, and aligning skills development with major infrastructure projects were also highlighted as key priorities.

The guiding mind of the rail industry, GBR (Great British Railways), should be resourced and empowered to coordinate action on industry skills and apprenticeships, in partnership

Major rail projects provide unique opportunities for enhancing social mobility. Leveraging projects to stimulate skills development and economic growth, particularly in deprived areas, is an important strategy for levelling up as well as strengthening the workforce.

WHAT NEXT? The insights from across the three manifesto workshops emphasize the need for clear direction in rail reform, decarbonisation, and skills development. The discussions will play into RIA’s messages to the different political parties the country approaches the next general election.

Whilst rail is facing an uncertain policy environment, RIA will continue to put the positive case for the opportunities that the railway can unlock for the country. If you would like to be involved in shaping RIA’s Rail Manifesto, please contact me – robert.cook@riagb.org.uk .

“To promote the steps needed to decarbonise rail, we will need to align our rail ‘asks’ with national priorities such as levelling up and productivity.

We need to measure and promote the wider value of rail across the UK, showcasing how it contributes to societal, environmental, and economic goals”.

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INSIGHTS from RIA Directors David Clarke Technical Director

THE UK ROLLING STOCK INDUSTRY

MAKING 2023 THE YEAR OF OPPORTUNITY NOT CRISIS – RIA’S CALL TO GOVERNMENT The UK’s train building and refurbishment industry is much larger and more strategically important than many people realise. Around the country the industry employs over 30,000 people and is contributing at least £1.8 billion annually to the economy.

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here is a however a looming crisis due to lack of visibility of future orders. In the last three and a half years, the only significant order has been the HS2 order, announced in December 2021 and this alone is not sufficient to keep the industry busy. This is not just bad for the supply chain with the risk of major job losses and reduced capability, but it will also lead to poorer passenger service and higher costs and will pass up the opportunity to quickly reduce carbon and improve air quality.

Running major parts of the passenger network on 40-year-old trains is simply not sustainable. Running costs will be higher, reliability and passenger experience will be poorer,

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could be avoided and turned into an opportunity to sustain industry, improve the railway offer, reduce costs and stimulate the economy.

and this will impact on revenue.

However, it doesn’t need to be like this and RIA’s recent report on the issue set out how this crisis

The report was based on a detailed analysis of the UK passenger train fleet. Looking backwards the industry has experienced a ‘boom and bust’ level of activity (Figure 1) which without action is likely to be repeated.

Most immediately there is the fact that in less than 12 months, major factories start to run out of work. The UK will not be able to upgrade or renew trains if the factories and skilled workers are no longer there. This will result in increased costs in the long run when inevitably it is realised that trains are needed and the UK either

33 needs to import or expensively recreate capability.

Perhaps in response to the RIA report the government allowed Chiltern Railways and Northern Trains to launch tenders for a total of up to 520 vehicles only a few weeks after the report’s publication. These tenders were welcomed by RIA as potentially ending the order drought and offering the industry some positive news. However, these potential orders represent only one year of work for the industry and are, in the case of Northern spread over up to eight years. The tenders also have a clause saying that the client reserves the right to not award or vary the contract. So although these tenders are a positive development they need to be converted to contracted orders and, even then, they will only address part of the order gap.

The RIA report calls for immediate decisions to avoid major job losses by replacing or upgrading trains which are already or will soon be 35 years old. This creates the opportunity for us to introduce modern trains

with cleaner technologies including electric, battery, hydrogen and multimode. This will have immediate passenger benefits, improving reliability and performance, reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.

RIA’s view is that decisions are needed now both for the short and long term. The immediate need is to make decisions about how to upgrade or replace trains which are already or will soon be 35 years old.

The Chiltern and Northern news does not address all of these. They should be easy and ‘no-regrets’ decisions as they do not need large upfront public investment - there is a wellestablished private sector route to deliver upgraded or new rolling stock – costs are spread over time and repaid through TOC lease costs.

In the longer term, to prevent a recurrence of the current hiatus in orders, RIA propose that there is a cross-industry initiative to develop a long-term industry strategy which creates a smoother order profile for upgrade and new build whilst

maintaining competition. This would give industry the confidence to invest in the people, plant and processes which will drive further productivity improvement and reduce whole life cost. RIA have modelled a potential approach to ‘sanity check’ that a smoother profile is achievable and are ready to feed this work into the proposed cross-industry initiative.

The report says that costs are likely to be offset by preserving competition in the market, protecting UK skills and domestic production capability and increasing revenues through better passenger experience.

The RIA report focussed on what would need to be done to replace the existing train fleet as it ages. However, this does not take into account the potential for demand growth or which routes might be electrified to support the target of a net-zero railway by 2050. RIA is therefore working on a further report which will consider these issues with the aim of stimulating an industry dialogue about the long-term strategy for a decarbonised rolling stock fleet.

Key recommendations from the report ■ Government clients to make decisions in 2023 to allow the procurement and private financing of rolling stock upgrade or replacement of c2600 vehicles by 2030 to improve passenger services, reduce carbon and improve air quality now, and avoid an imminent existential risk to the UK supply chain. For the same reasons, consideration should also be given to upgrading/renewing the c1,650 DMUs which become 35 years old after 2030.

■ Government clients to work with RIA to develop a long-term rolling stock and decarbonisation strategy, which has the ambition to consider equally passenger experience, carbon reductions, air quality improvement and sustainability of the supply chain. The strategy should aim to smooth out ‘boom and bust’ to create the conditions for increased productivity and reduced whole life cost.

■ Government clients and TOCs to collaborate on high level specifications for the different types of train (A to G) including any requirements for functional interoperability. These specifications should be consulted on with the supply chain to ensure they are deliverable affordably.

■ The ambition to remove all diesel-only trains (passenger and freight) from the network by 2040 to be replaced by an ambition to maximise the cumulative reduction of carbon (and improvement of air quality) by the most appropriate means through both direct decarbonisation of rail and through modal shift.

However, no new diesel only trains should be bought.

1. https://riagb.org.uk/RIA/Newsroom/Publications%20Folder/The%20UK%20Rolling%20Stock%20Industry.aspx THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

INSIGHTS from RIA Directors Milda Manomaityte Innovation Director

INSPIRED BY INNOVATION Shortlisted for the Best Long-Standing Association Event 2023 award, RIA Innovation Conference is coming to Wales on 26-27 March 2024.

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The RIA Innovation Conference 2024 will explore the theme: Inspired by Innovation.

flagship event in the Unlocking Innovation programme, RIA Innovation Conference brings together inspirational leaders, pioneering engineers, ambitious entrepreneurs and passionate railway professionals.

To continue innovating on how we are delivering networking events, we will keep some of the most loved elements from the last event and introduce a few new features for you to try.

We know, the railway industry has a plethora of interesting events to choose from, many of which are delivered by our own RIA team.

However, RIA Innovation Conference has a special place in our and, we hope, our member’s calendars.

This year we have tried several new elements, such as the TOC Pitch Session, Exhibitor Spotlights, and innovators’ TechTalks. All of those have received positive feedback from attendees, allowing the event to be more interactive and engaging.

For next year’s event, we are continuing to challenge ourselves on how to deliver a stand-out event for our members and partners. An event that will combine an opportunity for you to share your innovations, be inspired by technological and research advancements happening in the UK and around the world, WWW.RIAGB.ORG.UK

KEYNOTES

engage with clients and suppliers to overcome barriers that cannot be overcome via email or Teams, and, most importantly, have fun while doing it!

When we ask you to gather for a keynote, we want you to leave the room with new ideas and provocative discussions in tow. We also want to give you an opportunity to meet the leaders of the industry.

Therefore, we are building a carefully curated Keynote Session, giving you a diverse range of speakers, which will include political leaders, major

“RIC 2023 was the perfect opportunity to meet likeminded professionals working towards a more innovative rail industry, to share ideas and build connections that will be invaluable in future. Hearing from other sectors was really helpful and inspiring, showing what can be achieved with the right culture, leadership and focus.”

Gareth Evans, Network Rail

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clients, and innovators from other sectors.

EXHIBITION As the event grows and more innovators want to share and explore new products, we are expanding the Exhibition element of the event, with the biggest ever hall available for innovators to showcase their products. Exhibitors will once again be able to deliver Spotlight presentations at their stands, allowing greater engagement with the event visitors and delivering better value to all the exhibitors.

TECHTALKS One of the most highly rated element of this year’s Innovation Conference, TechTalks are short presentations from suppliers and clients, sharing their journeys of innovations currently being rolled out onto the network and already delivering benefits. This is a great opportunity to understand how the UK railway industry is transforming the network today!

PITCH SESSIONS

“This year’s RIC far surpassed my expectations having attended previously as a delegate, I thoroughly enjoyed the attendee encounters which I’m sure we could all agree were resourceful and engaging. See you again next year at RIC24!”

Earlier this year we have partnered with the Train Operating Companies’ (TOC) Innovation Community to host supplier ‘Pitch Sessions’ at the last RIA Innovation Conference. These offered innovators the opportunity to pitch their ideas directly to TOC Innovation Managers, in the hope of securing contract opportunities with them. For the next year’s event, we are looking to expand the Pitch Session to offer a wider variety of clients for suppliers to pitch to.

Nuno Vasco, Phoenix Contact

PARTNER RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION SHOWCASE

FUTURE FOCUS ZONE

RIA’s Unlocking Innovation programme is supported by Network Rail’s R&D Portfolio and the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN). We work together with these partners to bring a large showcase of their activities to the RIA Innovation Conference. We are now looking to expand this showcase with more industry clients and partners.

An Innovation event would be nothing without big ideas and radical thinking. We have secured a space at the event venue which we will dedicate to anyone who would like to showcase groundbreaking innovations. This space is open to all industries, not just rail. We are thinking robots, virtual and augmented reality showcase, latest in materials and nano technology!

THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

36 STUDENT CHALLENGE AND OPEN DAY We recognise that for the industry to thrive, we need to engage with the future talent. So, we are partnering with local universities and schools to present them with an opportunity to challenge our thinking and come up with new ideas for the future of the railway industry. On Day 2, we are also opening the doors for students and pupils to come and visit the event and learn about potential career opportunities.

EVENING NETWORKING & DINNER Finally, the RIA Innovation Conference would not be complete without the Networking Dinner. For our next event, we will offer an opportunity for exhibitors to host pre-dinner drinks at their stand. The networking dinner will bring a festival vibe, offering food stalls, music, and opportunity to relax and discuss all the interesting things seen that day.

Tickets and Exhibition Spaces available visit www.riagb.org.uk/ RIC24

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“This exceptional event, masterfully orchestrated by the talented RIA team, serves as an enlightening platform for exploring the latest advancements in railway innovation. It presents the ideal opportunity for participants to engage with colleagues, discover cutting-edge products and services, and exchange inventive ideas that could potentially reshape the future of the industry.”

Mario Ramos Garcia, Aegis Engineering

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INSIGHTS from RIA Directors Rose Garber Member Relations Director

RIA MEMBERS TO GET RBD COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP AS A BENEFIT OF RBD ASSETS ACQUISITION We have some exciting news to share with you! RIA is giving its members complimentary Rail Business Daily Community membership from the start of October 2023. This normally costs £350 per year, but RIA members will receive the new benefit as part of their existing membership.

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his is a result of the RIA’s acquisition of Rail Business Daily (RBD) in August this year, where we acquired several RBD Assets, including RBD Community.

For RIA members, the RBD Community introduces extensive profile-rising opportunities, networking services and intelligence, as well as instantly adding enhanced membership value. There are many RBD Community benefits including opportunities for PR and advertising, company microsite, much soughtafter access to The UK Rail Report, as well as unlimited access to the member platform ‘One Place’ relaunched in June, which is packed with resources including the latest rail bid, tender and funding opportunities.

We believe that both organisations,

RIA and RBD Community, are stronger together and this move is part of our commitment to helping our RIA members to grow their reach through RBD’s powerful media communications and member platforms. It further enhances our ability to do more to help build and develop a bigger, better and more collaborative UK rail supply sector.

year. We will be onboarding all RIA members by the end of November.

Fiona and I will be more than happy to answer any questions. Please do get in touch with us! – rose.garber@ riagb.org.uk or fiona.broomfield@ riagb.org.uk .

RBDC’s Member Onboarding & Content Editor, Fiona Broomfield, and I will be hosting a series of Onboarding Webinars in October and November, bringing RIA members up to speed on the RBDC benefits package and providing a live demonstration of ‘One Place’. We will then get RIA members a ‘spotlight advertisement’ and company microsite set up before the end of this THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

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INSIGHTS from RIA Directors Neil Walker Exports Director

IRELAND TIME TO GET INVOLVED? UK suppliers should be aware that Ireland has embarked on a period of unprecedented levels of investment in sustainable transport. Now is the time to develop market strategies if you are not already planning for these activities.

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IA with Irelands’ National Transport Authority (NTA), along with its delivery partners Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Irish Rail, and the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) via our British Embassy in Dublin, are planning a series of activities to promote these opportunities that closer cooperation with Ireland could bring you.

Ireland’s National Development Plan 2021-2030 is the country’s largest, greenest and most ambitious infrastructure plan to date.

Their transport portfolio includes projects and programmes that vary in size, scale, and necessary expertise.

These projects and programmes include the development of metro, rail, bus, and active travel infrastructure across the country and an outline of the scale of the transport infrastructure investment is illustrated.

The sustainable transport portfolio largely managed by NTA operates

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under the aegis of the Department of Transport. They are responsible for developing and implementing strategies to provide high quality, accessible, sustainable transport across Ireland.

The most significant programmes that will be delivered in the NTA’s sustainable transport portfolio include MetroLink, DART+ and

BusConnects, these are projects that the UK supply chain should take time to understand more and get involved.

The MetroLink project will deliver a metro route to connect the north and south of Dublin city and includes 16 stations serving multiple residential communities, major employment, education, transport

39 and other centres. The service will be fully automated and is anticipated to be operational by the early 2030s.

The DART+ programme includes the extension of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) service to multiple areas outside of the city and this will require additional trains, extensive civil and engineering works, signalling and electrification and upgrades to existing rail infrastructure and stations.

BusConnects is a national programme that will deliver extended and enhanced bus services throughout Ireland, and it is anticipated that it will have a very significant positive impact on sustainable travel through increasing passenger numbers and the utilisation of a zero emissions fleet.

This will include the development of new sustainable transport corridors, the redesign of the network of bus routes, the implementation of new ticketing and payment systems and new infrastructure, focusing on 5 cities, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford with likely benefits throughout the country.

Moreover, Irish Rail are delivering the Cork Area Commuter Rail programme and the Limerick Area Commuter Rail programme to deliver extended and improved rail services to these cities in Ireland.

in Northern Ireland publish final findings and recommendations which provides valuable insist into other possible future projects and enhancements, with the report available on both departments website to view. This was followed by public consultation that closed at the end of September.

If you are looking for further insist into these opportunities then please look out for further media about how to be involved, which starts for us with the NTA speaking at RIA’s Annual Conference, followed by a series of other market engagement and promotional activities with our partners NTA & DBT and likely finishing with a UK rail trade mission to Ireland, potentially at the end of January 2024.

Ireland’s National Development Plan 20212030 is the country’s largest, greenest and most ambitious infrastructure plan to date.

An Active Travel (walking and cycling) programme of investment separate to Rail and Bus with a budget of c. €3 billion for 2023 – 2031 exists.

These programmes will all go to the marketplace to procure the support needed to deliver these very important works. Several of the programmes are already actively engaging with the marketplace in Ireland, the UK and Europe.

We also see the All-Island Strategic Rail Review (AISRR), jointly commissioned by the Department of Transport in Ireland and the Department for Infrastructure THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2023

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RAILWAY INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Kings Buildings, 16 Smith Square London SW1P 3HQ United Kingdom T: +44 (0)207 201 0777 E: RIA@riagb.org.uk W: www.riagb.org.uk

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