The need for a strategic approach on the railways to the management of the vehicle–track interface

Abstract

Network Rail's decision in 2003 to bring track maintenance back in-house was long-overdue recognition that responsibility for safety on Britain's railways cannot be abdicated – but there was more to it than that. The accidents at Hatfield and Potter's Bar (both in Hertfordshire, UK), in particular, had exposed very vividly how privatisation had encouraged each now separated and competing part of the industry to operate in its own interests: records, data and expertise were fragmented, and track and train operators alike each sought to minimise their individual costs in isolation. This paper argues from a systems analysis perspective that, on vehicle and track maintenance at least, the overall costs to the industry are in such circumstances likely to be higher than if the various parties were to work together towards minimising total track and train maintenance costs between them. Far from increasing efficiency, privatisation had the effect of reducing it.

Keywords:

• privatisation
• fragmentation
• strategic management
• operations management railways
• maintenance management

Acknowledgements

The financial support of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and contributions from the companies associated with the TRAINS project are gratefully acknowledged. The pioneering ideas on the systems engineering philosophy of John Williams, former senior research fellow on the TRAINS project and his initial guidance and contribution have been invaluable, and we wish to thank him sincerely for the inspiration he provided. We are also grateful to our TRAINS project colleagues for their valuable comments during the preparation of this paper.