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Railhub Archive
1997-03-25 RTK-001
Railtrack plc0
Millions to be spent on railway industry millennium change
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   Millions to be spent on railway industry millennium change
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type Press release
The move into the next millennium, involving a simple electronic change of date, could seriously impact on almost every activity involving the running of the railway.
Ticketing, the performance regime - which monitors the timekeeping of trains - signalling systems and passenger information are among those which will require corrective action if the industry is to meet the new century challenge.
Railtrack, responsible for the country's rail infrastructure, hosted a conference today (Tuesday 25 March) to enable the industry to demonstrate its commitment to making sure the railway continues to run into the year 2000.
The conference, held at a London hotel, proposed a co-operative approach to the problem which will affect every industry using computer technology.
The conference was told that the cost of effective action for the rail industry, which will deliver better systems, as opposed to merely a date change, was likely to be over £60 million.
Sir Robert Horton, Chairman of Railtrack, told the conference: "The year 2000 is not only a challenge for the railway industry, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that we can work together to deliver a better service to the people who count - our passenger and freight customers."
Other speakers included Sir George Young, Secretary of State for Transport, who urged co-ordinated and co-operated action and John Swift QC, the Rail Regulator, emphasised that prompt action was essential and announced a means of requiring all licence holders to report their progress to him. Peter Cook, Managing Director of BR Business Systems, described the current state of the industry's systems and the progress made to date.
Senior figures from Railtrack, the Train Operating Companies, the Infrastructure and Maintenance Companies and BR Business Systems, also discussed setting up a body to agree the format for electronic exchange of data, similar to those found in the banking, airline and retail industries.
Railhub Archive ::: 1997-03-25 RTK-001
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