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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.
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Ben689908
@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.