‘There’s no doubt that our record has improved over the last decade’


didn’t have to prove myself every day as a woman. I asked to go to the Office of Telecommunications and that was an unusual thing because I’d come in as a fast stream civil servant, and they tend to think that the interesting thing would be to advise ministers.’ She had seen the ORR role advertised in the Sunday


Times, but assumed that her lack of rail experience would preclude her from applying, until she was approached by headhunters who were interested in what she had to offer. Since her appointment, she has thrown herself into the role with gusto, travelling around the rail network on both freight and passenger trains. The main difference between the railways and other


regulated industries, says Walker, is the amount of change there has been. ‘On the whole, what has tended to happen in other industries is that it has been 15 years before significant changes have happened. Part of the changes on the railways were to do with Railtrack going, but there were also changes in regulation. I think it’s better not to have change unless it’s needed, but there were clearly problems with Railtrack and the regulatory regime wasn’t working properly. ‘It’s important for a regulator to remain ahead of,


certainly abreast of, a sector – otherwise the regulator becomes a drag on the sector because they’re seeking to solve yesterday’s problems.’ And so on to Network Rail. It’s seems fashionable, at the moment, to criticise Network Rail’s structure, and the senior management’s bonuses. But Walker’s says she’s happy with Network Rail’s structure. ‘What matters is that infrastructure services are


provided efficiently, because we’re not going to be able to run the sort of services we want for freight and passengers if they’re not. To have efficient services from Network Rail, you can’t rely only on regulation. ‘The question is how you bring the other incentives


into play. This isn’t for the ORR, though; it will be for government to take the leadership on this. But we do look at whether more private sector investment – and there are lots of different ways you could have it – would be suitable for Network Rail.’ Does she agree that Network Rail ought not to return


to the private sector after the Railtrack fiasco? ‘What the government is saying at this stage is a


number of things. It’s saying the amount of money that has gone into the railways more recently, since about 2005, the country can no longer afford. But Philip Hammond is then saying that whatever sum of money the government puts in, the sector has got to operate more efficiently and with more private sector investment, because the gap has got to be filled. It’s in that area where we have to look at all the options. That includes the running of the


PAGE 20 SEPTEMBER 2010


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