United Kingdom
I joined the UK rail sector in 1995 (after the completion of my Higher National Diploma, 1st degree and then Masters degree studies). By working my way up the career progression ladder, I have developed multi layered and comprehensive expertise in freight and passenger operations, train running control, service delivery & management, competence assessment for safety critical operations personnel in the rail industry and effective line managements skills for teams of Operations personnel in front line, passenger & customer facing roles and in an OCC environment. I am now a highly competent Operations Controller with nearly 6 years of career work experience in the bespoke Rail Services sector. In order to introduce myself, my CV is available for review on request. I am always happy to partake in more in depth discussions arising from a review of my CV if those requests are genuine and are for roles where I am seen as a suitable candidate. Underscoring my railway career, is my advocacy and passion for delivering high-quality rail services that are safe, reliable and consistently achievable. I am A1 Assessor qualified; in the last 2 years I have led the training of 3 new starter Duty Control Managers at Rail Operations Group having previously led the competence development of OCC Controller grades and frontline traincrew. I am also AC & DC lines PTS competent on the UK national rail network. My current role is as Duty Control Manager at Rail Operations Group based in Derby, where I am responsible for the daily delivery of bespoke rail services to various UK rail industry stakeholders.
Joining the ROG DCM team in January 2020, I am now the longest serving DCM in terms of length of unbroken service. At ROG, the DCM is a key role in the safe and reliable delivery of the daily ROG train plan through effective train running control and real time management of all our train movements contained in that plan. As DCM, I provide a key service delivery link between our customers and ROG for immediate issues affecting the daily plan, During shift, I am responsible liaising with our customers, our traincrews, the ROG management structure, Network Rail, FOC's and TOC's and am also responsible for first line incident response, planning train movements under VSTP protocols, train performance monitoring and reporting at level 1, manipulation of the loco fleet plan to ensure that sufficient loco resource is available to deliver our planned train service, traincrew rostering when changes are required to mitigate changes in planned traincrew availability, short notice service planning and resourcing to effectively respond to changes in customer requirements, TOPS and TRUST management, internal company reporting as well as the production of an accurate, complete and fact based service delivery log. Using my A1 Assessor qualification, I am also the training lead for the DCM team in ROG Control and have trained and assessed as competent 3 new starter DCM's in the last 5 years.
Part of the team tasked with the management and operational delivery of key contracts in the Rail Services division at GB Railfreight. I had responsibility for contracts with Bombardier, East Midlands Trains, West Midlands Trains, LORAM Rail UK, Belmond Royal Scotsman, Caledonian Sleeper and other UK based train operating companies. I also worked closely with industry stakeholders both external (e.g Network Rail and UK ROSCO's) and internal (e.g. GBRf Control, Resource Planning and front line traincrew) to ensure that services are delivered to the UK rail industry with excellent levels of safety and reliability.
Consultancy based development work relating to and the assessment of, strategic projects in the rail industry for third party stakeholders. As part of the Mott MacDonald Rail Operations team based in Derby, I was well placed to provide advice and inputs to projects regarding general operations procedures and protocols, operating standards, rules and regulations and could provide recent and historical first-hand insight into front line service delivery across all sectors of the rail industry in the UK.
As a Train Service Controller, I was responsible for service delivery and management of the GBRf daily train plan achieved through real time, direct train running control. This is a multi faceted role focussed around proactively ensuring that the daily GBRf trainplan for flows as diverse as light engine movements, Sleeper services, bulk aggregates, engineering trains etc are delivered to the customer in a reliable and timely manner. The role also requires daily interaction with industry stakeholders such as other freight operating companies, passenger train operating companies, Network Rail and the Supply Chain 24/7.
As a Duty Train Running Controller, I was responsible for service delivery and management of the DC Rail daily train plan achieved through real time, direct train running control. This is a multi faceted role; in addition to my core Control responsibilities, I was also involved with train planning, traincrew rostering and the on going development and review of the DC Rail Control Competence Assessment system and Control Manual and the DC Rail On Call and Incident Response procedures. The role required daily interaction with industry stakeholders such as other freight operating companies and Network Rail. The position required shift work around a rolling roster (on a zero hours contract) of 3 shifts, 06-14, 14-22 and 22-06 across a 7 day period.