At the mercy of contractors and sub-contractors

Another respondent to my article in RAIL 849 is a man with 20 years’ experience of working on the security aspect of the railway. He is convinced that Network Rail and (in particular) the train operators are wasting millions of pounds annually on buying and maintaining these systems.

First, he told me about the inadequacy of Network Rail’s maintenance of CCTV cameras at stations. The work is routinely contracted out, but the oversight of the work is poor as Network Rail has insufficient expertise in what has become a key aspect for the railway, given the heightened levels of concern over security.

Moreover, when cameras fail, they are often replaced with new equipment of a similar standard, when it is clear that an upgrade (which may not be much more expensive) would provide far better images.

New systems now can be introduced without a local recorder, but instead can operate as networks. The recorders are expensive and need maintenance, but (he says) are still being widely installed at great expense. Indeed, whereas a standard recorder ought to cost around £1,500, under contracts train operators often pay three times that. And he has seen cases where contractors are charging £12,000.

The cost soars because of the use of contractors and sub-contractors. One job in which he was involved at Manchester Victoria ultimately cost £160,000 (originally it was estimated at £260,000), because he insisted that the work be supervised by Northern, rather than by Network Rail and a series of sub-contractors.

“The railway is seen as cash rich and an easy target for overpricing,” he told me. “We can’t keep on allowing that.”

The extra costs largely result from the fragmentation of the railway. In a rational world, he says, Network Rail would have a central purchasing point for all this equipment, which is fairly standard, and then sell it on to the train operators. This would not only guarantee that all the equipment was all compatible, it would also mean there was a rational approach to its installation.

Network Rail should have the skills and the ability to be the principal contractor, which would then ensure that costs are reasonable. Instead, the industry is “at the mercy of the techies who can pull the wool over the eyes of those responsible for purchasing equipment”.