Welcome
Welcome to the South East Area Council home page. The SE Council has, over recent months, been active in organising and promoting a range of events designed to meet the needs of the area, the aim being to run events that members find both informative and useful. The Council was restructured last year to provide new roles and therefore better meet the needs of members. However, any suggestions for improvement are always welcome. Events are run at least every month, providing members with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge, meet senior industry figures and network with colleagues and peers. To achieve the objectives of the area, we are driving a number of new developments and ideas to further professional development in operational understanding.
Over the last year we have significantly broadened our events to include:
- “Golden Whistles Awards” – The Operators’ equivalent of the established “Golden Spanners Awards”
- Good Practice Workshops – Covering areas including operations standards, customer communications, on-board services and incident management
- Question Time-style Debates – Providing members the opportunity to debate current rail issues with senior industry figures
- Continuing Professional Development and Mentoring Programme – Supporting IRO members with their careers, including the provision of mentors
- Operating Skills Weekends – “Hands on” operating weekends in areas including platform dispatch, guarding and signalling
- Visits to European Railways – To understand European operations and the chance to “compare and contrast” with UK railways
- Talks from senior industry figures – This includes senior managers and directors from TOCs, NR and other industry bodies
- Visits to projects – Providing the inside view on current major projects e.g. the East London Line extension
Our aim is to continue to run events that appeal to members. Our forthcoming events programme is included on this section of the IRO website – we hope you find something of interest and benefit. If you’ve not attended an event before, please feel free to contact one of the council who will ensure you receive a warm welcome when you arrive and are introduced to other colleagues.
The IRO’s South East area also forms a central part of the Young Railway Professionals (YRP). The YRP is a unique cross-institution forum providing networking opportunities for younger members of the IRO with members of other institutions, including IMechE, IET, IRSE and PWI. For further information, please visit www.youngrailwayprofessionals.org
If you have any feedback or woud like to contact us, please email us at southeast@railwayoperators.org
Tim Shoveller
Area Chairman, South East Area Council