Mark Oakley

Sheffield’s new Aurora trains to London. Starting next year, #Sheffield will see the new Hitachi #Aurora trains taking over from the 20 year old Meridian fleet on Sheffield’s #London train service. East Midlands Railway have produced a video showing the design of the new fleet. The link to it is here: 👇 https://lnkd.in/ekatStGp If you do not want to watch all 13 minutes, then let me help you by focusing in on 2 key issues that have come my way time and time again on Linked In: 1) WIFI and phone connectivity. Starting 6 mins 30 seconds in, is a 2 minute piece on connectivity. Things will be better than the old fleet. Why better and not brilliant? My understanding is that the on train WIFI kit searches for the best phone signal but still has to be in range of a mast. That is challenging on occasions, as the Midland Main Line is not built on a billiard table. Until Network Rail or someone else installs lineside telecoms technology for passenger use, there will still be dead spots. 2) Seats The Aurora is a Hitachi product but 3 metres per coach shorter than the other Hitachi IETs out there already because of the length of the platforms at St Pancras International. A major complaint from regular users has been the seat comfort on the Hitachi trains. EMR have put a lot of effort into the seats for their new Aurora trains. There is a section in the video from 8 mins 30 seconds about the design and comfort. Having tried them, I found them comfortable. Sheffield Chamber of Commerce Sheffield City Council Sheffield Hallam University The University of Sheffield Irwin Mitchell CMS UK Tom Hunt Tom Finnegan-Smith South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Alex Forrest Rachel Sprigg Melanie Corcoran Oliver Coppard George Selby Laura Etheridge Will Rogers Kate Josephs CB Tracy Viner Sam Chapman William Stewart Louisa Harrison-Walker #sheffieldissuper #sheffieldtransport #sheffieldbusiness #sheffieldrail Hitachi Rail Rachel Turner

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Our latest roundup analysing recent transport policy news and events 👇 Hope you find it helpful and you can follow JFG Communications if you'd like to receive our regular updates. #transport #PublicAffairs #Rail #ActiveTravel #WomeninTransport

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The Global Centre Of Rail Excellence is delighted to be referenced in a major new RSSB document: 'Guidance to railway testing and validation in Great Britain' published recently. The guidance provides a high-level overview of rail testing, offering information on roles and responsibilities in the industry, why testing is important and how and where testing can be carried out. It also points to key resources that those involved in testing should be aware of. As a site for world class rail research, testing and certification of rolling stock, infrastructure and cutting edge new technologies, the Global Centre Of Rail Excellence will be a facility unique in Europe in terms of the wide range of services it will provide. GCRE will significantly enhance the rail industry's testing and validation capabilities and support manufacturers, governments, regulators and infrastructure managers across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. You can find the guidance here: https://lnkd.in/eJNnFNDT #GCRE #GlobalCentreOfRailExcellence #RailInnovation

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Today, the Rail Minister will face the Transport Committee to address pivotal concerns, including renationalisation of rail operations and the scaled-back HS2 project. The session is expected to explore how renationalisation might tackle ongoing challenges like performance and funding gaps, while also discussing the implications of HS2 adjustments on regional connectivity and economic growth. The debate reflects a critical juncture in UK rail strategy, balancing public accountability with private sector efficiency. What are your thoughts on these shifts in rail policy and their potential impact on passengers and communities? Read more about it here: https://lnkd.in/eHreUmg3 #RailPolicy #UKTransport #HS2 #PublicTransport

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Coyle Rail is helping to ensure the future success and sustainability of the UK rail network 🚉📈 The rail industry in the UK is currently facing a significant skills shortage. Recognising these challenges, Coyle Rail has positioned itself as a leader in providing apprenticeship opportunities that are crucial for addressing this skills gap. 👨‍🎓📚 We are proud to highlight the success of our 11 active apprentices participating in the Level 3 Railway Engineering Technician Apprenticeship programme in collaboration with Network Rail. We are also proud to have funded a total of 2,278 upskilling training courses throughout the year. The total investment in this training programme was £453,976. 🚧🚂 Learn more about our efforts to address the rail sector's skill shortage by reading our Rail Training and Workforce Development article on the Coyle Journal: https://lnkd.in/e4Evijzd #CoyleRail #UKRail #RailTraining #WorkforceDevelopment #RailApprenticeship #SkillsShortage

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📈 We are pleased to share the NSAR Rail Workforce Survey 2024 results with you! NSAR's Skills Intelligence Unit undertakes a comprehensive annual survey of the rail industry workforce, helping rail and government understand current and future skills gaps. 👉 Read the report here https://lnkd.in/ec3G7ZFj Headline findings: 💡 The workforce in rail has decreased by 9.4% over the last year to 220,500, predominantly in the supply chain. 💡 We have a workforce that is slightly younger this year than last (the average age of the workforce has decreased from 45 years old in 2023 to 44.1 years old currently). 💡 The proportion of workers aged 25 and under has increased from 4.7% in 2023 to 6.3% in 2024. This represents an increase of 20.2% year on year. 💡The proportion of workers aged between 31 and 49 has decreased from 50% in 2023 to 43.8% in 2024. This represents a decrease of 20.6% year on year. 💡 A third of our workforce is aged 50 years old or over. 💡 We are facing a critical loss of experience and knowledge in the next seven years (the number of people leaving through retirement and other forms of attrition could be 90,000 workers by 2030). 💡 We remain a male-dominated industry (although gender diversity has increased to 17.4% in 2024, up from 16% in 2023). 💡 The proportion of workers in UK rail who are from an Ethnic Minority Group (EMG) has risen from 12.3% to 14.4%, representing an increase of 17.2% year on year. 👉 Read the report: https://lnkd.in/ec3G7ZFj #NSAR #RailWorkforceSurvey2024 #rail #skills

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https://lnkd.in/eZZDvr2F Now this...this resonated with me. I often think we're too squeamish when it comes to highlighting the dangers of the railway, and indeed the entirety of modern life. I believe this because I am both an experienced training designer versed in the ways of KSA(B), and I'm also aware that the brain is designed to keep you alive in a world full of wild animals and geographical hazards i.e. the environment our bodies evolved to live in. We have a threat matrix that isn't atuned to our modern surroundings. It is incredibly difficult to change people's attitude towards safety with words and videos... people will watch a modern safety video and ignore the messages because it hasn't made any impact on their threat matrix. The world is incredibly safe these days, so a lot of people exist in a bubble of presumed and assumed safety as a result. They fail to acknowledge that this incredibly safe environment, relies on them not ignoring the systems put in place to keep them alive and intact. Don't poke a fork into the toaster. Don't force the door open on a lift and don't ignore the warnings at a level crossing. What does change attitude is trauma. The car crash that makes you drive more slowly afterwards. The dog bite that makes you fear them. The fall that gave you a fear of heights etc. So I 💯 know that confronting people with the shocking reality of a level crossing collision, would change people's attitudes and hence behaviour regarding them. But I also know there are a phalanx of people who would complain if you showed this, or who believe its wrong to put reality on the table, even though reality is the ultimate high fidelity learning tool. Very difficult to ignore reality once you've seen it. I accept there needs to be a compromise and KiwiRail seems to have gotten it right with this approach. It gets very close to showing you how close you come to death if you have a near miss. The grave markers are there to grab attention at the point where people would make the decision to cross...perfect. Showing the reactions of others to the videos is also a great way to reinforce the shared nature of learning. We learn by copying others, whether we're aware of it or not, in this case group condemnation is expressed subtly. I've known people who didn't believe level crossings were that dangerous i.e. they trusted their judgement over the warnings. Years ago a friend of mine tried to cross, and was going to cross, when the lights and sirens were activated. It wasn't me yelling "you could be killed!" that got him to stay put. I tried that. It was calling him every rude name under the sun, whilst insulting his intelligence, that made him prefer to stay back to 'fight about it' that kept him alive. Since, as he acknowledged, he'd have been 'a goner' if he'd crossed.

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As a business we drive a lot of value from Nick’s apprenticeship. It’s a win for the individual, a win for the team (Nick being a great role model) and a win for the business! #skiils #apprenticeship #rolemodel

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🚆 The Rail Revolution: How UK rail can push for net zero 🛤 Working procedures to increase the current railway system’s efficiency must be undertaken to drive wholesale change for tomorrow, says Richard Moss, head of civils at Instarmac Group plc. Read the full piece below 👇 https://lnkd.in/eM39W9vV

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The King’s Speech today underlines the importance of the rail sector to our new government’s plans. No less than three seperate pieces of legislation to deliver the reform the industry so badly needs and also to address the bottleneck that exists between Crewe and Manchester on the network. As an industry and supply chain we should get behind these changes to make the railway best placed to deliver the needs of passengers and freight customers.

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Glad I had the closing statement in New Civil Engineer's article on the troubles with the UK's rollout of rail electrification. In the UK, we obsess about value engineering but ignore that procurement & contracting strategies and how we manage access and risk have a vastly more significant impact on project costs than the size of bolts or whether we can save 100mm from a pile. Great British Railways may happen at a future point and it may recommend further electrification - whether there is a UK rail electrification market left by then is a real risk.

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“The Rail Health and Safety Strategy makes it clear that health must be on a par with safety.” Chris Knowles, from RSSB, considers the recently published Rail Health and Safety Strategy. Read the full article here: #UKrail #railways #RailDirector

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The major UK train line set to be transformed by £1.4bn revamp! 🚆 New technology is being rolled out which officials say will mean more reliable and punctual services > https://ow.ly/Fu5j50Ugtpi #Railway #Rail #Transport

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The Severn Valley Railway is seeking approval from its shareholders and members for a radical organisational restructure. It describes this as a ‘bold and essential move’, which will bring multiple benefits. The plan is to bring together the three separate companies that currently make up the SVR, into a new ‘One Railway’ structure. The aim is to create a stronger, more vibrant and efficient operation, and to secure a robust future for the leading heritage line. More here: https://lnkd.in/eFN9kg9S #railnews #railindustry #ukrail #railways #railtransport

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This Week is Road Safety Week (18th - 22nd Nov), An industry wide initiative where awareness is raised by the dangers of Road Traffic Accidents whilst at work. Travelling by road is one of the biggest dangers for our staff at Network Rail, as most of our work is undertaken at night. In March of this year, I had the call no on-call manager wants, a member of my previous team at the Sussex MMT had suffered a head on collision with another vehicle whilst travelling to undertake a site survey. First step was to ensure my colleague was ok, they was in a state of shock. The Van was totally written off, and both occupants of the vehicles was thankfully not injured. I organised a member of the team go to the colleague and then escort them back to the depot and to stay with them until the rest of the team arrived as they carpool home. Recovery of the vehicle was undertaken and delivered back to the depot. Upon investigation the colleague had suffered a microsleep, This was the primary cause of the accident and can happen to anyone driving whilst fatigued during the day or at night. Its also why its important to get sufficient rest, and to never drive alone. This was an initiative we implemented after the accident as a lessons learned practice. Compassion is also needed for both the colleague and other driver of the other vehicle. The colleague was offered assistance with Pam Assist post incident, and also some potential counselling though Network Rail. We put the colleague on a post incident course through Fleetmaster and ensured they would not be driving until this was completed and felt ready to return. Recently, I was asked by the RSSB to share my thoughts with Jasmin Collier on how an on call manager manages such an incident in the podcast below. Feel free to give it a listen! #Roadsafetyweek #Networkrail #Roadsafety #Safety

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🚆 It’s Rail Safety Week (24th to 30th June 2024) and it's crucial to acknowledge the significance of mental health in the rail industry. At MentalHealthWelfare.com, we understand that feeling safe is paramount for both the public and rail staff alike. 🛤️ Having worked at Southampton’s busy rail terminal for the past three years, I've firsthand experienced the ins and outs of loading and unloading freight trains. This hands-on experience has highlighted the critical link between safety, mental health, and overall well-being in the rail sector. 💬 As a dedicated mental health welfare coach, I stand ready to support rail employees in nurturing good mental health practices. I'm here to emphasise that employees' sense of security directly impacts their mental well-being. Together, we can foster a workplace culture that prioritises both physical safety and psychological health. 🌟 During Rail Safety Week, let's emphasise the importance of mental health awareness and proactive support. I am more than willing to engage with rail staff, offering insights and strategies to promote mental wellness within the industry. 🚉 Let's work together towards a safer, healthier, and more supportive rail environment for all. Remember, your mental health matters just as much as your physical safety. Reach out, let's talk, and let's build a secure foundation for a brighter future in rail safety. #RSW24 #mentalhealthmatters #RailSafetyWeek

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In our latest article in Rail Express we acknowledge and address some of the workforce challenges in the rail industry by providing industry best-practice solutions for training requirements. #trainingsolutions #workforcetraining #trainingsystems #trainingdesign

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