Overview

The structure of Britain’s rail industry is currently under close scrutiny, with the coalition government reviewing rail franchising policy before letting any new rail contracts. In May a full rail industry review (the ‘McNulty Review’, led by former chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, Sir Roy McNulty) was published, calling for a radical overhaul of Britain’s rail industry, so please be aware that all information included within this article is subject to change, and will be updated in a future edition. The report states that ‘Achieving a 30 per cent efficiency improvement by 2019 should be the target for the GB rail industry given the study’s findings on the industry’s costs compared to European railways and other industries … A reduction of this magnitude is achievable and is essential if passengers and taxpayers are to get the fair deal they deserve from the rail industry.’ Seen as a ‘value for money review’, it addresses the challenges facing the rail industry in the current economic climate: to cut costs while continuing to improve services for passengers. ‘The key to better value for money,’ confirms the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), ‘is a more commercial railway that releases the full potential of the private sector and puts the passenger at its heart.’ The Review is sure to have a fundamental effect on the face of the industry; however, with projects such as the revolutionary new high-speed rail network – eventually due to link London and Scotland at speeds of up to 250 mph – currently under discussion, there is still light to be seen at the end of this particular tunnel!

According to the latest figures available, the number of passenger journeys in 2008/09 increased by 3.4% to 1.274 billion (a level not seen since 1946) and, since 1998/99, they have risen by 42.8% from 892 million. In addition, international passenger numbers on Eurostar rose from 6.3 million in 1998 to 9.1 million in 2008 – a jump of 44.4%. A total of 109 million long-distance rail journeys were made in 2008/09, compared to 23 million domestic air journeys. Rail therefore supports a domestic inter-city market over four times as large as air. Further information is given in the accompanying box: ‘The sector at a glance’.

Further information is given in the accompanying box: ‘The sector at a glance’.

Research shows that the railways employ over 170,000 people, either directly or in supporting industries, with about 80,000 in the train operating companies (TOCs) and Network Rail. Rail is 20 times safer than car travel and about the same as air travel.

Network Rail runs the national rail network. It runs, operates and maintains 20,000 miles of track (and infrastructure), 40,000 bridges and tunnels, 18 major stations (more than half of all UK passenger journeys start or finish at one of them), 2,500 other stations (leased to train operators) and 8,200 commercial properties. Passenger miles are greater than at any time in the last 60 years on a network of roughly half the size, and, during 2008/09, Network Rail made over £600 million profit after tax, all of which was reinvested in the railway.

To maintain its infrastructure, new regional maintenance companies were created. Thousands of trains were sold off to three new rolling stock leasing companies, which maintain the fleets and invest in new builds. The average age of the passenger rolling stock is 14.7 years – Britain has one of Europe’s youngest train fleets. Passenger TOCs were created, along with rail freight operators, to run close to 25,000 trains every day (1,600 of them freight), carrying nearly 3 million passengers and over 400,000 tonnes of freight (79% of the UK’s coal and coal products, and 34% of our metals).

Network Rail’s latest strategic business plan outlines its spending proposals for 2009–2014, and details what the company believes is required to grow and expand the railway in order to respond to the increasing demand for rail travel from both passengers and freight users. This includes:

• investment of £28.5 billion over the next five years
• a proposal to provide over 100,000 extra seats every day in around 1,700 extra carriages
• improving train service punctuality to over 92% by 2014
• halving the costs of running the railway during the ten years to 2014
• investing £7.6 billion in projects designed to relieve crowding, by lengthening platforms and increasing capacity
• spending £10.8 billion on renewals – replacing older parts of the network.

Rail-related skills gained in the Services

The Royal Logistic Corps are the British Army’s railway experts. Soldiers from 79 Port Enabling Squadron, which belongs to 17 Port and Maritime Regiment, part of the Royal Logistic Corps, use their specialist expertise on operations to provide technical liaison and advice between a host nation and the relevant military headquarters, to maximise the use of any rail network available to a commander.

Rail can provide an excellent transport resource for heavy and bulk items. For example, in Kosovo, rail provided an important logistical link between the landlocked state and its neighbour’s seaport, enabling vehicles and supplies to be quickly transported. More recently, British Army rail operators were used in southern Iraq to help get port rail facilities up and running.

Many military movements use rail transport, large supply depots will often include loading and unloading facilities, and the use of troop and medical evacuation trains is quite normal. Indeed, establishing a railhead, as well as a port and airhead, is an early priority in any expeditionary operation to enable bulk shipment of manpower and material.

Employment in the rail industry

Despite the current recessionary gloom, the future for railways remains remarkably bright. Passenger demand remains high and is predicted to continue to grow, as road gridlock becomes ever more common and petrol prices increase. New and improved railway lines are planned for the near future (such as the new high-speed rail network mentioned above), and rail travel is definitely here to stay.
Careers are generally split into the following employment areas:

• technical and engineering
• operations
• driving
• customer facing
• management.

TOCs are also finding it difficult to recruit customer service staff to work at stations and on trains. These positions need few formal qualifications, but they do require an ability to deal with the travelling public. Network Rail has a significant shortage of signallers and is seeking new recruits. As with driving, the job of regulating train movements demands attention to detail rather than a long list of qualifications.

Infrastructure maintenance organisations employ a small core staff, and there are vacancies for workers to maintain the track and signalling structures. Skill levels vary from technical staff with engineering experience and qualifications, to gangs of track maintainers who need physical strength and can work in all weathers. Many specialist agencies work under contract to supply such people. This can provide flexible working, good pay rates and entry into the industry.

There are also management and engineering opportunities. Rail is very much a people business, with many staff and even more passengers, and there is significant demand for experienced customer service managers. It is also a business that relies on getting the most out of limited physical resources, so those with a logistics background are in demand. Academic qualifications and practical experience help to secure the better-paid management positions, but the most serious skill shortage remains in the engineering functions – which is why Network Rail has announced the creation of the 300 skilled engineering jobs mentioned above – and this is likely to be the case for some time to come.

A good way to get more information about vacancies is via the internet. All the train operators are linked through one central National Railways site operated by ATOC and virtually all the companies’ home pages include a job opportunities list. Network Rail has its own site (see ‘Key contacts’) with a useful job search facility and full details of the sorts of roles on offer.

It is less simple to check for vacancies with subcontractors because these companies rely heavily on agency staff. There are many agencies, and several have websites offering work in maintenance, as well as other short-term contract work at stations and on trains.

GoSkills is responsible for the railways and is developing vocational qualifications for the industry. Its website includes a database that links jobs within the rail industry and describes career pathways (see www.careersinpassengertransport.org). National occupational standards, apprenticeships and NVQs/SVQs at levels 1, 2 and 3 have been developed for those working in rail transport operations and rail engineering.