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CAREERS
RAILSTAFF NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING IS TRANSFORMING THE FORTUNES OF NORTHERN TRAINS, WHERE NEW POSSIBILITIES ARE TAKING SHAPE BY BRINGING TOGETHER A DIVERSE RANGE OF TALENTS.
T
en weeks into his new role as Director of Engineering at Northern Trains, Jack Commandeur is looking at the possibilities of making history. Attracted to Northern by the size of the challenge to transform the network, he’s already encouraging others to see those challenges with new eyes.
Jack Commandeur joined Northern Trains in September 2020 from Hitachi Rail, where he had been group director of service and maintenance engineering. Before that, he had engineering roles at Virgin Trains East Coast and at Southeastern. However, his engineering degree comes from Wits University – the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. It allows him to step back and take a different perspective sometimes. “In the UK, we have a unique relationship with our railways, something that was surprising to me as a native South African,” he told RailStaff. “When it comes to rail in South Africa, there is far less a burden of history. In the UK, there is a lot of historical connection around the railways that shackles us, perhaps more than we realise. “We are on the cusp of such big change. It’s time to think differently about rail from a UK plc point of view – to think more boldly. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do here at Northern. The great thing is the whole philosophy is changing, and has to change, as we become more sophisticated as a
business – we have to be better at thinking on our feet.”
RADICAL CHANGE Investment into rail in the North has resulted in a new fleet of 100 trains, as well as existing rolling stock, depot and system upgrades. But it’s not just the kit and the technology that’s being radically modernised at Northern, it’s the entire culture, including ways of working. “The intensity of the focus here within the engineering team at Northern has, quite rightly, been on the trains and the infrastructure,” Jack continued. “But the next step, for us, is to balance this with really looking at the effectiveness of our business, to look at new ways of working, doing. To get into the habit of always asking ourselves ‘why not’ (rather than wondering why something won’t work).
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“It’s easy to say that we're trying to build a brand-new future for rail travel, but the reality is that we’ll only get to that point by making sure our business is as diverse and inclusive as the communities we serve. “It’s been a difficult couple of years. Stakeholders and customers have not been happy. To turn that around offers an enormous trajectory and, from an engineering perspective, a unique chance to get up close to the customer. You’re not a step removed here. The impact of our work is felt by millions – and known to millions when people are sharing their experiences on social media.” Jack directly challenges the notion of careers in rail being as predictable as a well-run timetable.
“The intellectual content of our work, the intellectual horsepower we need, is far greater than it was. The balance of the intellectual versus the physical in engineering is rapidly shifting. We’re going digital. We’re talking about battery hybrid trains and hydrogen trains. We’re aligning engineering to operations for better diagnostics, predictive modelling and systems harmonisation. That means working in engineering where there are a lot of skills being played through.”
MAKING RAIL APPEALING In some respects, the railway suffers from an image problem when it comes to recruitment. Despite how compelling Jack and his peers make it sound, the railway always seems to have a shortage of good engineers. And, with a workforce that seems predominately white and middleaged, recruiting women and ethnic minorities to engineering roles can be a problem, even if they are available. “I think there’s still a ‘safe and secure’ school of thought,” Jack continued. “I don’t think people realise how avant-garde rail is, that it’s more about needing a younger generation armed with laptops than more guys like me with spanners.
