Today’s railway is under significant pressure, and consequently, so are railway operators and contractors. The railway needs to modernise to deliver a changed service and must balance safety, operations, efficiency and compliance with less money, fewer people and less access.
One key area of change is the move to prohibit red zone working. This is to be welcomed in ensuring one of the most obvious risks to staff is managed. However, this undoubtedly challenges the maintenance delivery unit to find new and innovative ways to achieve compliance and deliver the work bank. Add to these the financial, business and operational pressures placed on the railway from inflation, industrial action and budget cuts, and there is the perfect storm brewing for the close-out of CP6 and the springboard into CP7.
So, how will the industry weather this storm?
First, the obvious starting point is to ensure that every opportunity to deliver work is maximised, every pound spent delivers more than before, and every minute spent on track wins two back. Easy to say – but more complex to turn into tangible actions.
Also, what if your interest lies in delivery? From the contractor’s perspective, it is necessary to maintain a competitive edge in this ever-changing and challenging environment. However, what are the key characteristics to drive future growth? Without a doubt, open collaboration across the industry will be critical to ensure favourable outcomes for both the rail operators or contractors and the client, but the pressure to ensure every task delivers more for less is not going away. Instead, a new perspective is required on maintaining a competitive edge by delivering what the client needs both now and, in the future, finding efficiencies that maintain margins, retaining flexibility and being agile in an environment of output-based specifications and financial restraint.
.jpg)
0 Comments