William Higgins reveals how dedicated controllers are improving the service for passengers
"Trains on time" is one of those headlines, along with "no crime today" or "dog wags tail", destined never to make the front page of a tabloid. It doesn't exactly scream news—but it is increasingly the case across our network. In fact, over the past five years, the number of services arriving within five minutes of schedule has increased from 72% to 92%—that's more than 1,500 trains a day meeting the industry standard for punctuality.
Over the same time, the number of right-time trains—that's trains arriving bang on time—has almost doubled from an average 36.5% to almost 70% today. Of course, it's not perfect, but it is a huge improvement on where the service was just a few years ago—and it's still improving.
The key to this quiet transformation is simple—joined-up working between the people who run the trains and Network Rail, the people who look after the track. For example, at the Wessex Integrated Control Centre at London Waterloo—the nerve centre of the railway—controllers from both companies work together as one team, under the command of a central Network Rail Route Control Manager. This may sound like common sense, but when the centre opened in 2004, it was considered revolutionary for the privatised rail industry. More than anything, it's what has reduced delays and minimised the knock-on impact of incidents.
"Being together means we can react to situations more quickly," explains Train Service Controller Graham Elms. "For example, a driver reported a person on the track at Putney recently. While my Network Rail colleague was still on the phone to the signal centre, I had already mobilised a response team to go to the site and actions were being taken to recover the service."
"We no longer disagree about what action to take," adds Operations Manager Richard Davies. "We have jointly agreed contingency plans for each type of incident—from major situations such as floods or fatalities to minor ones with less impact—which we put into operation immediately an incident occurs. Any big decisions to be made during an incident are made by the Network Rail Route Control Manager, who is empowered to act in the interest of the railway and its passengers, without regard for the financial delay penalties on either company."
The aim is for a minor delay never to turn into full-scale disruption because the two sides can't agree on the best solution—or because of a lack of communication. Network Rail's Current Operations Manager Giles Baxter explains: "It is very frustrating for passengers going home from work to hear the announcer apologise for delays that are ‘due to an earlier signalling problem', if it's the same one that held them up that morning. This rarely happens now. We always take quick action to minimise the knock-on effects and get the service back on time as soon as possible."
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