Network Rail

Network Rail starts hunt for top maintenance management team to run new organisation
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date 8 March 2004
source Network Rail
type Press release

note PR04016

Last weekend saw the start of Network Rail’s hunt for a top management team who will run the company’s new integrated maintenance operation, as its programme to bring all rail maintenance activity in-house gathers pace. This new team will play a key role in helping to deliver £300m annual maintenance cost savings to the business.

An advertising campaign was kicked off in the national press on Sunday 7 March and will be followed by adverts in the trade and specialist press over the next few weeks. The company will also consider internal candidates and has written to all its existing maintenance contractors to ensure that these new high level posts are communicated across the industry.

Reporting to Maintenance Director, Richard Fenny, the successful candidates will help to deliver the three key benefits that Network Rail has identified will flow from the creation of a single integrated rail maintenance operation;
• consistent application of high standards of rail maintenance across the rail network
• significant efficiency savings to be delivered from the annual maintenance budget
• continued improvement in track-side safety standards
The current structure of outsourced rail maintenance involves six infrastructure maintenance contractors - Amec, Amey, Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Jarvis and First Engineering – working in twenty contract areas, leading to considerable management duplication and complex reporting, hand-back and inspection procedures.

In future, there will be a single management structure with clear lines of accountability and a simplified relationship between operations and maintenance. Network Rail will ensure that maintenance is carried out by a permanent workforce of well-trained individuals committed to a strong safety culture.
Three rail maintenance areas, covering some 3,000 staff, have already become part of Network Rail - Thames Valley in June 2003, Wessex in November 2003 and East Midlands in January 2004.
Iain Coucher, Deputy Chief Executive, said: “Open competition will ensure that we get the very best candidates for these new roles. The successful operation of our new maintenance arm will be vital to the success of the company and will deliver significant cost savings and a better service for the passenger.

“Our Thames Valley area, the first to come in-house some eight months ago, is leading the way with year-on-year delays reduced by some 40% over the past five months. The new maintenance management team will ensure this trend continues and will become a fundamental part of our new business.”
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Notes to editors:

Network Rail is the 'not for dividend' operator of Britain's rail network. Our objective is to provide safe, reliable and efficient rail infrastructure.

We own and maintain the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, viaducts, and level crossings. We also own the network’s 2,500 stations, and manage the largest and the busiest. We provide access to the tracks for every passenger and freight train, timetable their journeys, and operate the signalling, which controls their movements.

Network Rail is a company limited by guarantee with members instead of shareholders. It is run as a commercial organisation, but any operating surplus is re-invested in the rail network.

Our core focus is the operation, maintenance and renewal of existing rail infrastructure, with the Strategic Rail Authority taking the lead on enhancement projects. We have set clear targets to improve performance and reduce costs, but safety is always at the forefront of our activities as we rebuild Britain's railway.

Details about the Company can be found on the Network Rail web site: www.networkrail.co.uk

For media enquiries please contact the Network Rail press office on
020 7557 8292 / 3

Railhub Archive ::: 2004-03-08 NET-001