Media centre

Wednesday 23 Feb 2005

ALISTAIR DARLING OPENS INTEGRATED CONTROL CENTRE AT LIVERPOOL STREET

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

| Eastern

NEW FIGURES SHOW INTEGRATED CONTROL BRINGS DOWN DELAYS The Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP, Secretary of State for Transport, today opened the latest railway integrated control centre (ICC) as new data revealed a clear reduction in delays since the launch of the integrated control centre at Waterloo station last year. The Anglia ICC, launched today, is the sixth integrated control centre to be opened in the UK as part of an ongoing rollout of integrated control centres across the railway network. The new figures show the improvement in performance of the Wessex area since the integrated control centre was opened at Waterloo exactly one year ago today: ·         Overall delays down 30% over the last eight months ·         Delays per incident down 35% over the last eight months - proving that integrated control leads to better and faster response to incidents ·         Significant and on-going reduction in the number of ‘major delays’ above 1500 minutes Speaking at the opening of Anglia Control, Alistair Darling said: “It's extremely encouraging to see the opening of this Integrated Control Centre. Having Network Rail working side by side with the train operating company enables any incident to be handled far more effectively and efficiently - meaning that passengers benefit, with reduced delays.” John Armitt, Network Rail Chief Executive, said: “The figures we’re publishing today show that Integrated Control Centres speed incident response, streamline decision-making and deliver benefits to passengers. The new control centre is the biggest and best yet, and we look forward to delivering the same benefits to passengers using the lines out of Liverpool Street that others are already experiencing around the country.” Tim Clarke, ‘one’ Managing Director, added: “I am delighted that the new control centre is now up and running and look forward to the positive impact that a closer working relationship with Network Rail will have on performance and therefore, passengers.  Latest performance figures show improvements in punctuality across all service groups operated by ‘one’ since the introduction of the new timetable last December and I hope that we will see even further improvements as we work more closely with Network Rail.” Bringing Network Rail and ‘one’ control staff together under one roof, the new structure brings five previous lines of control into one (see Notes to Editors) and also introduces a Duty Network Manager – the so-called ‘fat controller’. The new control centre will facilitate communications and consistency of decision making, with both Network Rail and ‘one’ working together towards the common goal of providing the best possible train service for passengers.  Control staff are positioned according to the train lines they manage, to allow for the efficient sharing of operational information and expertise, and for the quick resolution of operational incidents to keep delays to a minimum.  In addition, the Duty Network Manager provides a single point of authority to speed up decision-making at crucial moments. The clear evidence from other areas is that integrated control of the railway improves the speed of incident response and consequently delivers significant benefits to passengers.