19 October 2023 – Planning and Performance by Steve Tyler – Planning and Performance Director, South Western Railway

Steve started by giving a brief outline of his role regarding  train planning and performance, operational readiness, industry partnerships and operations projects, before moving on to describe his team and who does what including how they cope with exceptional events such as the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and the coronation of King Charles.  He described his role as a job born out of railway privatisation, making sure that the company provides the right services to meet the contractual agreements.  He also explained how the technology has moved on enabling smart working with regards to keeping track of SWR trains whether using mobile tech or via the signalling systems, helping to make sure that they run as and when they should.

Moving on he provided a list of what he intended to cover under the headings of electrification and the West of England (WoE), Arterios (701s), Timetabling, Heathrow and RA2 – very pertinent for Woking - and station change proposals.

Decarbonisation is high on the industry agenda including improvements in the WoE area.  Running diesels, especially under overhead wires for the sections where these are in place, is not great, so possible options, difficulties and solutions were detailed.  Whichever solution or combination of solutions is chosen, it will mean huge capital investment.  Whilst Steve likes the idea of extending the third rail system, some feel that it is potentially too dangerous.  Some options are likely to be considered too expensive and the possibility of battery powered units for some parts are being investigated now that the technology is getting so much better.  An update on progress with the Arterios confirmed that 53 of the 90 units have now been accepted although Steve explained the problems encountered along the way and why it  had taken so long.  He clearly likes these new units and is optimistic about seeing them in service fairly soon.  Deployment may not be as initially planned as demand has changed, something Steve goes out to see for himself sometimes to find out those things that are not picked up from the data.  Sometimes observing passenger behaviour can provide the best solution.

Steve had invited questions and answers at any time during the presentation and was as good as his word in answering them, with subjects covered such as guards on trains, ensuring revenue protection, how to cope with certain peak times eg getting home from London late in the evening when there are special events on.  SWR and Steve’s team are already considering possible solutions.

Timetabling from Covid onwards and the more recent disruption because of strike action and an overtime ban have made providing a reliable timetabled service very difficult, let alone taking into account major possessions for engineering works.  It is also impossible to create a change that suits everyone and there will always be losers if service patterns change – a massive conundrum.

As the Rail Air 2 serves Woking - to connect up with rail passengers heading to and from Heathrow Airport, Steve included this in his presentation covering how it has changed and how it is currently regularly used including by students between Woking and Guildford.  The service attracted both praise and criticism with a request to for better indicator boards showing accurate timing, as well as other questions.

The final part of Steve’s presentation covered South Western Railway (SWR) station change proposals with single stations working together as a team and trying to ensure that staff are more agile, efficient and flexible so that SWR has a multi-skilled workforce with clearer career pathways - to quote “a higher proportion of staff trained to support customers with retail choices”.  This led on to what was entitled Retail Modernisation including closure of ticket offices.  One of the reasons given for closing ticket offices included greater visibility of staff for customers at stations.  This raised a number of questions and comments from the audience not least that it is easier to find a staff member if you know they are going to be in the ticket office, as well as comments about stations not being staffed full time anyway.  The aim is partly to modernise retailing towards a digital self-service or a supported service approach using Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) and online provision.  It was pointed out by members in the audience that there are those who cannot manage on their own who need help and remarks that some previous local experiments have been less than effective.  Examples were given of where it is essential to have someone knowledgeable available to help even if this is only for set relatively short time each day, for example to help find a way through the what can be a very complicated ticketing system when one travels outside of the local area.  Multi tasking was also criticised to some extent as it was pointed out that it does not always work, expertise can be lost and staff can become disgruntled, but the answer came back that training and support for staff would enable a graded system with opportunities (for staff) to learn and develop greater knowledge.  It was clear from this animated discussion that members of the audience greatly valued their knowledgeable station staff especially in the ticket office.

The vote of thanks was given by Tom Kolisch particularly highlighting the general appreciation of Steve being frank and honest about the difficulties; and giving a fascinating and very interesting talk.  However, Tom has decided not to apply for Steve’s job!  The audience wholeheartedly supported Tom’s vote of thanks and showed their appreciation in the usual way.