DINNER AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
Reduced regulation
In terms of the ORR, Walker stated: “We are a regulator that passionately believes that we should do less.”
That will require a different way of working and incentivising with Network Rail and the TOCs, as well as suppliers to move things forward “innovatively and effi ciently”.
“As a regulator we want to get out of some things that we currently do [which] we believe the sector could do better,” she said. Giving the example of track access, she highlighted that this could be handed out to Network Rail as a system operator, allowing the sector to do more itself.
Steep learning curve
Prof Richard Parry-Jones said he was climbing a “very steep learning curve” into the rail industry, with the bulk of his career being in the automotive sector, and commented on how much had been achieved over the last decade in terms of safety, performance, reliability and cost effectiveness.
In 2002, fewer than eight out of 10 trains were on time: now it’s more than 9 out of ten. In 2002 there were 19,000 trains on the railways every day. Now it’s nearly 25,000, an increase of almost 30%.
He described passenger numbers up 40% in a decade as “stunning growth”, with demand from companies looking to move their goods by rail increasing by 60% in the same time. It was a positive phase in the industry, he said, with “unprecedented investment” from government, but acknowledged there is still “much to do”.
Prof Parry-Jones called for a continued and “relentless focus on safety” and reducing rail costs by improving capacity, asset utilisation and productivity. This can be achieved by making better use of track and platforms, as
well as building to address bottlenecks, he said. Intensive collaboration
“We’re moving rapidly towards intensive collaboration, as we all recognise the necessity to work together, to drive performance to the next level. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and our deep alliancing are just some of the facets of this intensive collaboration,” he said.
Commenting on the cancellation of the West Coast competition, Prof Parry- Jones expressed his hope that this would not lead to
“unstable consequences” and the
issues would be resolved as quickly as possible. He said: “Most importantly, [my hope is that] we don’t lose confi dence in our industry.”
Touching on freight, he said that Network Rail had not forgotten its importance, and detailed a special focus to work with the FOCs to ensure devolution can improve their performance as well.
“We are keen to introduce competition and contestability into everything we do. We believe that drives us to improve better and proves that we deserve to be part of the industry’s future.”
Finally, he called for greater investment in R&D, to expand the “pockets of brilliance” and maximise the potential of a “goldmine of opportunities” in research. He said: “The economic value to the customers and the taxpayer of a concerted approach to exploiting the opportunities of technology is enormous. Returns for us could be huge.”
The event is back next year on October 10: for more information and to book your place, contact Roy Rowlands on 0161 833 6320 or
royc@cognitivepublishing.com
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
opinion@railtechnologymagazine.com
rail technology magazine Oct/Nov 12 | 17
All images © M. Howell
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