Reflections and resolutions with RSSB Chair, Mike Brown

In this episode, we're delighted to be joined by Mike Brown, Chair of the RSSB Board. 

He's with us for the final episode of 2024 to round up the year the rail industry has had, discuss the changes it might see in 2025 and beyond -- as well as how to navigate them -- and reflect on what the festive season means for many rail workers.

Find out more at https://www.rssb.co.uk

Happy holidays. We'll be back in 2025!

Transcript

Host [00.12]: Welcome to our final podcast episode of 2024. It's been another busy year for RSSB, and we're sure it has been for you as well. So, we wanted to take this time to relax and unwind a little, looking back at 2024 and forward to 2025, with a bit of a festive twist.

So with us today is Mike Brown, chair of the RSSB Board, to do just that.

Hi Mike, and thank you so much for joining us today.

Mike Brown [00.35]: Jasmin, it's great to be here, thank you.

Host [00.38]: So I'll start by saying the holidays are often a time of reflection for many people. So, what do you think we as an industry should be proud of this year?

Mike [00.45]: Well, I think the key thing about the rail industry this year, it's certainly on people's agenda. It's on political agendas, it's on the public's agenda. We've clearly got some stability now, hopefully moving forward in the industrial relations challenges we've had most recently, and we've got a clear pathway going forward, which we might touch on later on for the industry overall.

I also think it's great that we've seen a refresh of the Rail Technical Strategy this year. Lots of players around the industry, including ourselves at RSSB, but of course Network Rail, the GBR Transition Team. This technical strategy sets a clear direction for the development and uptake of existing and new solutions, those that are essential for our industry to deliver against the challenges we face. So, I think that refresh, if you like, reinvigorates interest and gets greater buy-in for coordinated technical progress moving forward.

I'm also actually really pleased that we've just passed the first anniversary of the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, I think that was back at the beginning of November, and that was very much built collaboratively by all of the industry. I think it will help guide sustainability strategies for organisations across our sector going forward.

There's also some good work, I think, on social value, so the brand-new Great Western station at Ashley Down in Bristol, for example, which will obviously serve thousands more customers. That opened in September, I believe.

So, lots of really good things, I think, going on in the industry, notwithstanding some of the headlines that we often read in the newspapers.

Host [02.18]: Thanks, Mike. We've also seen some game-changing outputs from RSSB this year, particularly in regard to helping industry organisations reduce their costs. So, what have we delivered in that space?

Mike [02.28]: Well, one of the things that I think is really important is RSSB's work in developing the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Dashboards. Look, the cost of ill health for our industry is disproportionately high compared to other sectors across the economy. So, if we can make improvements in employee wellbeing, if we can work with the industry, across the industry, in ensuring that standards and the way that we deal with health issues, wellbeing issues, if we can deal with those better going forward, that's a massive potential in terms of cost saving. We could be saving the industry some £45 million over the next 5 years if we can get a grip of employee sickness and absenteeism. We've got a real opportunity, I think, to make progress there.

Another one may seem a bit dull to some people, but new A boards for temporary and permissible speed restrictions, you know, again, were used because this allows trains to accelerate when the front of their train reaches the sign rather than the driver having to wait for the entire train to clear the section. That is a massive cost saving in terms of journey time, in terms of the reliability of the railway, and it could save the railway millions in delay-related costs as well.

So, you know, those are just two examples, but a lot of good stuff going on, I think, from RSSB and across the industry.

Host [03.46]: And looking ahead now, what should our listeners keep an eye out for from us in 2025?

Mike [03.52]: Well, I think in 2025, one of the key things that we're being mindful of is the pressures that the industry is on overall, both from a cost perspective and from a delivery perspective and from a change agenda perspective. You know, some of the things that just will continue unless we collectively as an industry start looking at them.

So, we're building a trespass and suicide One-Stop Shop to enable a more streamlined, joined-up approach to the industry's various activities in this area. There's a lot going on, a lot of effort going on, and I know from my own background, this is a really emotive, challenging topic to deal with, but where you can make a difference and where you can save one [person's] life by not allowing a trespass incident or indeed a suicide incident, that's got to be worth it. So, lots of good work there.

We're also doing some stuff on upgrading the Rule Book app, which will have new functionality. Hopefully, it will make the app easier to use. That's a great thing, I think, in terms of accessibility to the Rule Book, which again is important from the overall railway system safety objective that we all share. I know that we've been targeting a December launch for this, so that will be coming along during the course of next year as well.

Also doing work on improving air quality. Clearly, we've got to ensure that there's practical steps to improving air quality across some of our stations across the country. We can't just arbitrarily as RSSB come in with an overarching objective and not have a clear pathway by which to achieve that objective, working with the industry and recognising some of the cost and other challenges that we face in this regard. So really good stuff, but it's important that as we embark on this work during the course of next year that we remain grounded and remain cognizant of the other pressures our industry colleagues are under.

Host [05.38]: Thanks, Mike. This time of year also sees a lot of maintenance work on the rail network. That means countless engineers, signallers, contractors, and managers, and so many others, will be working hard over the festive season. So what would you say to those staff who continue to work tirelessly at this time of year?

Mike [05.54]: Well, first of all, thank you. Thank you on behalf of the industry leaders generally. I mean, I ran London Underground for several years, as some of your listeners may well know. And I tried to make a point over the Christmas period, Christmas, New Year period, of going out on site, going to places like Earl's Court, where we were doing some massive junction reconfiguration or digital signalling application systems on parts of the District Line or elsewhere in the network. And to me, it's really important that we acknowledge and respect and thank those teams that are out there, and not all of them may celebrate Christmas. But nonetheless, it's a time where friends and members of the family will usually have some time off work. And for them to give up those times off work, to be out there sorting out the railway, fixing the railway, embarking on some heavy maintenance or capital projects is something that often goes unnoticed and un-thanked, and we should be really grateful for what they do every year.

Host [06.48]: And if the rail industry were to make a New Year's resolution, what do you think it should be?

Mike [06.52]: I think working together is critical for the industry. You know, there's lots of, still lots of silos in the industry, still lots of ways that the industry is vulcanised, that it's split up, that people have different accountabilities and perhaps look at common objectives in very different ways. And I think the importance for us is to remember the customers at the end of all of this, whether those are users of freight railways, freight operations, so crucial, of course, for the operation of the UK economy and a real success story of our industry, often forgotten, but also in terms of passengers, fare-paying passengers, ensuring that we remain focused on those passengers, whatever our role in the industry is.

And sometimes if you're doing particular jobs in some weekend maintenance activity or overnight work on the track, or if perhaps you're doing some maintenance of the trains in the depots, it's easy to think you're one step removed or several steps removed from the ultimate experience of the passengers. But every little [cog in this wheel] is absolutely vital for the end delivery to our passengers. And if there's one thing we must have in common as an industry, it's to work together to ensure that we demonstrate value for money and we demonstrate improved reliability and service for those who ultimately use the network.

Host [08.07]: Thanks Mike. And with the Great British Railways Bill expected in December 2024, we're getting ever closer to rail reform, and with that will likely come some changes. So, when it comes to navigating those changes, what advice would you give to our listeners?

Mike [08.21]: I would say stay focused. Stay focused on the job you're doing. Do every day a better job than you did the day before. So, it is that focus on reliability, it's focus on no repeat defects on the network, it's focus on day-to-day safety issues that you're responsible for, you're accountable for, as we all are, wherever we sit in the industry, and recognising that in a time of change and organisational uncertainty and perhaps lots of discussion around where people will sit, where the organisational boundaries will be drawn and everything else, people can easily, because we're all human beings, get distracted by some of those matters rather than focusing on the continual day-to-day roles that we all have.

So, I think call on the resources of RSSB as part of that for sure, because RSSB can potentially give you some value, add some value to your business, hopefully it can reduce some costs to your business as well, very importantly, I know at this time in particular.

The way we best achieve change in the industry, as you do in any industry, in any sector of the economy, is by working together and sometimes putting aside personal perspectives for the greater long-term output.

Host [09.28]: And finally, what are you personally looking forward to this festive season?

Mike [09.32]: Well, I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time with the family, with friends, perhaps friends that you don't catch up with as often as you might like to during the course of the year. Always a challenge that you sort of concertina all those interactions over a sort of 10-day period and try to avoid that where I can. Get out, get some fresh air, get some relaxation, and rest, I guess.

But to be honest, what I'm most looking forward to is thinking ahead with excitement to what the industry has in store next year and the years beyond, and hopefully ensuring that I can play my part in that, that RSSB can play our part in that, but actually that the whole industry is properly supported in those massive challenges, but great opportunities we all have ahead.

Host [10.11]: Mike, thank you so much for joining us today, and thank you for listening. 

If you want to learn more about RSSB and the work we do across all aspects of the rail industry, please visit our website. 

We look forward to you joining us for the next episode, and in the meantime, happy holidays!