On Saturday 18 June the Midlands Area held its 2006 summer visit, choosing as its venue the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire.
Twenty five members had a very enjoyable and interesting day. Visits were arranged to the Carriage and Wagon workshops at Rothley where they were able to see work in hand on the maintenance and restoration of coaches, the highlight being the ‘Coronation’ observation coach.
Members then returned to Loughborough where the party was split into manageable groups to visit the signal box which was surprisingly busy, not only operating the train on the twin track mainline but also the considerable number of engine movements around the locomotive sheds. The locomotives running included the magnificent King Arthur Class locomotive 30777 ‘Sir Lamiel’ which really is a credit to those involved in the restoration. Members were then able to visit the locomotive sheds to view a wide variety of locomotives in varying states of repair.
After the visits members were able to spend the rest of the day at their leisure on the railway and several took advantage of taking the excellent three-course dinner on the train whilst others took advantage of the open top bus tour, included in the ticket price.
It really was an enjoyable day on an excellent preserved railway giving those members who are taking the Diploma and Degree courses the opportunity to see a vertically integrated railway operation at first hand.
Our most sincere thanks to the General Manager, Bob Crow, and all of his staff for making us so welcome and imparting freely of their time and knowledge.
The Midlands Area Council has bid farewell to its Secretary Neil Henry who has moved to the North East of England to take up the post of Area General Manager with Network Rail. Neil has been an active member of the Area Council since its formation and worked tirelessly to get the organisation off the ground and into the healthy state that we now find ourselves. The area council thank Neil for all of his past efforts and wish him every success in his new role.

The new lines to Edinburgh airport bid fair to provide Operators with a great challenge. This became clear at our joint meeting with the CILT to hear from the project team how the lines are to be built and how they will integrate with the existing railway. The Scottish Executive wishes access to the airport to be facilitated from all parts of Scotland, not just from the capital city, so it is crucial to see the project as a fundamental element in the national timetable. Thus, the station will be a calling point for trains on the routes to Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Inverness as well as the local commuting routes. New lines will branch off the existing
triangle of lines which at present enclose the airport and will head inwards and meet to enter a tunnel below the airport building and runway. Not only will this mean steep gradients, for which more powerful trains will be needed, but it will add six additional junctions, all within a confined area. Enhancements to the capacity of Waverley station in Edinburgh have already begun, to accommodate the existing traffic levels more reliably. But more need to come.

The project team demonstrated that the challenges of geology and civil engineering are understood in this far-reaching enterprise, but that the issues of timetabling and rolling stock are still being evaluated by simulation programs. Planning and delivering reliably
the complicated train service will demand operations skills of a high order, but the prize of a revised train service for Scotland – one which is truly integral to the nation’s travel strategy – is a unique opportunity for the UK, and perhaps like no other in the world.

All our Area events are listed on our website: www.railwayoperators.org and you are very welcome to attend events in your own or any other Area. Unless the listing says otherwise, you do not need to advise us that you intend to be there.

By Tom Cox
On Saturday 1st July, a group of North West Area members and their families made their way to Caernarfon in North Wales in order to travel on the Welsh Highland Railway, which currently runs from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu, a distance of almost 12 miles. Having had its origins in 1864, initially involved with slate traffic, the two-foot narrow gauge railway was eventually closed to both passengers and freight in 1937, and it was not until 1997 that the first section from Caernarfon to Dinas (2.5 miles) was re-constructed, and opened for public use. In 2003 the entire Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu section was re-opened, and work is currently underway to re-construct the line a further 13 miles through to Porthmadog, in order to connect with the Ffestiniog Railway.
With traction being provided by a Beyer Garratt NGG16 steam locomotive, our party boarded the 12.20 departure from Caernarfon in glorious weather. The line passes through an area of outstanding beauty with spectacular mountains, valleys and streams, together with interesting and varied wildlife. As we climbed towards our destination, we even caught sight of a service on the Snowdon Mountain Railway hundreds of feet above us, and we duly arrived on time in Rhyd Ddu. After a short period allowing for loco run-round and train preparation, the return service departed Rhyd Ddu, and on arrival at Waunfawr, the mid-point of the return leg, we detrained for refreshments in a lineside hostelry. During our 90-minute stop we had an excellent lunch in beautiful surroundings, and having caught the next service, we arrived back in Caernarfon at 16.25 hrs.
It was the opinion of our group that we had enjoyed an interesting and pleasurable day out and it is intended that we arrange a similar Family Day in 2007, most probably making a visit to the East Lancashire Railway. Our members will be fully consulted and advised prior to this event.

Testing for the UK’s new time signal starts in earnest next year.
The time signal used to set Britain’s clocks with extreme accuracy is on the move from Rugby, where it has been transmitted since 1927, to a new home in Anthorn in Cumbria. The signal, often referred to as ‘The time from Rugby’, will be known as ‘The Time from NPL’ from April next year.
The time signal is accurate to within one thousandth of a second and supports several rail services. Most rail operators use the signal to underpin their communication systems and signalling. It is used to monitor trains across the network and the clocks at most mainline stations are also tied to the National Physical Laboratory’s (NPL’s) time signal.
The National Physical Laboratory is home to the nation’s atomic time and one of only five laboratories worldwide using the latest caesium fountain to contribute to the world time standard Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).The signal’s transmission is tied to NPL’s atomic clocks at Teddington in South West London.
The switch will follow a three-month test period between January and April 2007. During these periods the signal at Anthorn will be switched on for short periods of time. These are opportunities for rail engineers to ensure their equipment can receive the new signal before the old one at Rugby is switched off. Anyone wishing to test their equipment against the new signal should sign up for signal testing schedules at
http://www.npl.co.uk/time/msf.
NPL managing director, Steve McQuillan, says “Maintaining accurate time is essential to keeping the UK’s rail system working. Many rail organisations use the signal constantly. We
regularly notify those we know who may be affected by our testing and we’ll be happy to add any other users to our email list if they get in touch. However the vast majority of time signal users will not experience any disruption during the testing and switchover.”

Simon Lane was a 1982 BR Operations Management Trainee who trained in the Liverpool Street Division. After a number of junior management jobs at Broxbourne, Ipswich and Victoria Station, (Area Manager Chris Daughton) and a short stint out of the rail industry, he became the Area Manager at Swansea before moving to Glasgow in 1991 to become ScotRail’s Operations Manager. In 1994 he moved to Melbourne and headed the city’s Rail business before moving to Sydney in 1997 where he was the CEO of the State Rail Authority. He was responsible for the Operational planning and management of the Sydney Olympics Rail task. In 2001 he moved to Singapore where he headed a new Rail business for SBS Transit, traditionally Singapore’s public bus operator, and was responsible for bringing two new driverless, fully automated systems into passenger service in 2003. He now lives in Perth, WA.
It was only when working in Singapore that the importance of long term strategic planning became self evident; where investment had been planned and implemented within a sustainable economic framework, and where excellent standards of service delivery were coupled with low fares and relatively low car use.
These outcomes are the result of a long term, integrated land transport plan supported by very high levels of investment which began when the GDP per capita was moving away from third world standards.
In 1996 the Singapore Government published a White Paper entitled A World Class Land Transport System which highlights the criticality of the relationship between an integrated approach to land use and urban planning with the development of each component of land transport.
The White Paper focuses on the long term vision and strategies which provide a framework for the management of the overall transport system. These high level aspirations were not new in 1996 but were the principles which had underpinned the planning since the early 1970’s.
The vision and strategy is underpinned by some clear policy principles.
• The role that each form of land transport must play in the economy is clear. Land transport’s role is as a critical enabler of economic and social efficiency.
It followed that public transport must operate at the highest levels of operational performance.
• The provision of the rail system is not seen as an end in itself but as one component of an integrated approach to land use planning and land development. Not surprisingly, the highest density housing developments are very close to MRT stations.
• The Government’s role is clear; It builds the infrastructure and purchases the first set of operating assets which are handed to private sector companies to operate for a nominal lease.
• The Government determines the vision, invests to create a specific capability while the private sector manages service delivery.
• Each generation of users must pay for the assets it consumes. Fares must cover operating costs and include a provision for the replacement of assets as they become life expired. The Operators receive no subsidy.
• The car quota system, introduced in 1990, constrains car ownership to approximately one car per ten persons. • The Singaporean Government has invested heavily to create the evident capabilities. Since 1983, the Singapore Government has invested approximately £350m per year on new rail infrastructure, excluding any major periodic maintenance or upgrades which are funded by the Operators, with similar levels committed for at least the next 7 years.

The Government body that leads the development and implementation of the land transport policy is the Land Transport Authority, LTA.
The key functions of the LTA are:
• To develop long term transport policies in conjunction with other Government agencies including the Economic Development Board, the Housing Development Board, and Treasury.
• To manage the road and rail projects to ensure long term capacity requirements are met.
• To appoint and regulate rail Operators
• To manage demand for road space through vehicle licensing, via the quota system, and road congestion pricing, introduced in 1995.

The high operating performance, coupled with the low fares, restricted car ownership, integrated high density land use results in about 55% of all trips being made by public transport compared to approximately 8% in Sydney.
Transport Expenditure, as a percentage of household income has reduced from 5.1% in 1988 to 4.1% in 2003 compared to 16% in WA in 2004.
These remarkable outcomes stem from the Government’s vision, the clarity of the long term role of rail and the willingness to invest to ensure the vision can be realized.
The clear separation of the role of Government and the private sector, and the principle that each generation must pay for the assets it consumes has a certain appeal.

In the first of a series on our Board members we focus on Peter Strachan and Jeff Ellis.

Peter Strachan (right) joined the Board in January 2006 and is Route Director for the Midlands, Network Rail based in Birmingham. Jeff Ellis is General Manager of the Central Line, London Underground Ltd and joined the IRO Board in April 2005.

John Self and Chris Leah
John Self (right) Chairman of Education and Professional Development Committee and Chris Leah IRO Chairman with the certificate and award that The Institution won at the Railway Industry Innovation Awards back in June. The IRO won the People Development category.

Internet Explorer 7
We understand that PC users can solve their IRO website printing problems by uploading Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 (IE7).
Microsoft has recognised that many PC users lose the right hand end of lines on certain types of websites when printing a page. IE7 rectifies this.
Most PCs will automatically recommend an update, but if not, go to http://www.microsoft.com/uk/ and follow the links to Internet Explorer 7.
Many other PC internet browsers and most Apple Mac users do not seem to experience the same problems.

Photo competition winner
The winner of IRO’s first calendar competition is Paul Chapman with his spectacular picture of St Pancras Station, London.
Paul joined as an Affiliate Member of the IRO in Sept 2006. He also started the diploma course earlier this year. Having worked on the railway since 2001, he now works in North West London as a Mobile Operations Manager for Network Rail.
The photograph of St Pancras Station shows an important site of railway development. “It was an obvious choice of subject, said Paul, both current and future lines can be seen as can the new and old St Pancras building”.
Well done Paul, your prize is a £50 cheque and complimentary place at the annual lunch.

Get your free book by Bill Fawcett!
A wonderful A4 book with superb photographs and illustrations has been produced featuring the history, building and development of the North Eastern Railways (latterly BR Eastern region) HQ offices at York. It is written by Bill Fawcett and thanks to the generosity of GNER complimentary copies may be abstained from the friends of NRM, Leeman Road, York YO26 4XJ. This is only £5 to cover postage, packaging and administration.
A bargain as well as a most informative and enjoyable read.

If you would like
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