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Are you still with Network Rail?
You can also see how at a higher level that both sides are protecting their own interests and for the TOCs that means profit, sometimes to the detriment of performance/customer satisfaction.
I had a couple of years in Management Consultancy - while deciding on next steps* - and recall presenting to NR, DfT and ORR on how flawed the TOC payment (pain/gain) mechanism was (is?)
I took a sample station, modelled its asset base, and pushed it through a Control Period using a quite simple Excel workbook. It showed that a TOC could let certain station assets go to ruin and still receive a payment rather than a penalty. Because of several flaws in the mechanism and franchise policy that I won't bore everyone with!
I thought the head of ORR - a formidable man at the time - was going to defenestrate someone.
*gone back to building the infrastructure now. I find it more rewarding and less chance of bumping into idiots who belong at KPMG.
Ben689908-
No, I left NR in 2021. I've actually worked for them on 3 occasions. First time in Engineering at head office. Then on projects and lastly in ops. I'm now working for a civils contractor on HS2...
When i worked on stations, it was for the NR managed stations, so NR was responsible for the maintenance of the assets, but the TOCs operated them.
The TOC payment thing has changed now (since COVID), as they are literally just paid to run a service i believe.
ELbowloh
Cards on the table. I work in the rail industry. I've worked for NR and civils contractors. I work mainly on projects to improve/replace infrastructure, but have also worked in operations covering the major managed stations in South London (Vic, Waterloo, London Bridge, Charing Cross, Clapham Junction).
I joined Network Rail back in the early 2000s when I had just become NR (my contract came through on Railtrack headed paper). Railtrack was obviously a disaster. NR actually did some great things. If you look at performance improvements from say around 2002 to 2010, they actually made huge steps forward, but things have plateaued after that. I believe, for sure, that the nationalised nature of the infrastructure is essential.
I have seen the interfaces between the privatised TOCs and NR does work well at a local level. TOC station managers and NR Station managers all work very hard to try to make things work smoothly, but it's inefficient for a start having two different sets of station staff. You can also see how at a higher level that both sides are protecting their own interests and for the TOCs that means profit, sometimes to the detriment of performance/customer satisfaction.