Media centre

Wednesday 28 Jul 2004

DELAYS TUMBLE AS MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS ARE UNIFIED AFTER ALMOST 10 YEARS

Region & Route:

National

For the first time in almost 10 years the core parts of the rail network, operations and maintenance, have been unified as the last 4,600 maintenance workers moved over to Network Rail at the weekend. Since Network Rail made the strategic decision in October last year to bring rail maintenance back in-house and create a single integrated rail maintenance operation, some 16,000 maintenance staff, a fleet of over 5,000 road vehicles, a network of training centres and almost 600 depots have come under direct Network Rail control. John Armitt, Chief Executive, said: “This massive achievement has re-united the key elements of the operation of the railway that lie at the heart of improving train performance.  Passengers are already seeing the benefits of the change as delays have tumbled by an average of 21% in those areas where maintenance has been in-house for some time. “I must pay tribute to our employees, those transferring into the company and the previous maintenance companies for helping to make the transfer go so smoothly.  It is their dedication and professionalism that has already reaped benefits by delivering cost efficiencies and performance improvements.” - more - Maintenance - 2 Significant performance improvements have been achieved in all areas where maintenance has been taken in-house, especially those areas that came in first  – Thames Valley (June ’03), Wessex (November ’03) and East Midlands (January ’04): Network Rail took the decision to bring rail maintenance in-house in order to create a single integrated rail maintenance operation that will deliver four key benefits: ·        Consistent application of high standards of rail maintenance across the area ·        Significant efficiency savings to be delivered from the annual maintenance budget ·        Continued improvement in track-side safety standards ·        For the first time, complete visibility of asset condition and costs Iain Coucher, Deputy Chief Executive added: “Rail maintenance is a central part of Network Rail’s operation. Bringing together maintenance and the operation of the railway has brought many benefits and is helping to deliver a better railway for the passenger.  Month after month, for ten months now, Network Rail delay minutes have fallen and performance continues to show encouraging improvement.” - more - Maintenance - 3                  Mr Coucher concluded: “But performance improvements are only part of the story as bringing maintenance in-house will save us large sums of money – around £700 million over the next five years.  Cutting out duplication, realising efficiencies, embracing new technology, investing in a better-trained more competent, motivated workforce and exploiting significant new purchasing power from the single national maintenance organisation, will all contribute to reducing costs.”