Media centre

Wednesday 27 Aug 2014

Transparency update – August 2014

Region & Route:

National

Network Rail has today published new and updated information on its online transparency portal. This includes a film which aims to better explain how a delay to one train can have knock-on delays to others, and how the industry works to get services back to normal after an incident has taken place.

Other new categories are:

 

• Archives – the story of how passengers’ journeys have changed over time

 

• Our flexible working policy
• Our communications – information about the 200,000+ public enquiries we receive each year (telephone calls, emails, letters) and via our Twitter account @networkrail
• Spend on management consultancy
• Spend on non-contingent staff
• Spend on overtime
• Timetabling explained – an addition to our delays explained portfolio, explaining the timetabling process
• Transparency polling – we asked the public what transparency means to them, and how they think we’re doing. This provides a summary of the results

The following information will also be updated:

• Board minutes
• Cable theft
• Executive expenses
• Family friendly policy
• Gifts and hospitality register
• Group expenses
• Members' expenses
• Non-executives' expenses
• Payment performance
• Progress and costs of high profile projects
• Sourcing cycle times
• Spend on top 20 suppliers
• Station footfall
• Top 10 incidents
• Workforce headcount

Mark Farrow, head of transparency for Network Rail, said: "We're continuing to publish more data as part of our commitment to being more open and transparent about what we do and the way we do it. Our recent poll revealed that one third of people think we're a transparent organisation, with half unsure. This puts us ahead of other large organisations and companies in Britain, but also means we've got more work to do to showcase how we are responsibly investing public money to improve a vital public service."

David Sidebottom, passenger director of Passenger Focus commented on Network Rail's transparency programme: "We welcome Network Rail’s continued commitment to greater transparency. Providing relevant, easily digestible information to passengers can help to build trust and confidence. Our recent research on passengers’ views of the railway industry identified that honest, open and transparent communication builds trust in train companies."