Railway road vehicles

[Ploughman]

I spent about 6 hours today on the A1 / M1 between York and Leicester and return.
In the past(2 years ago) I would expect to see numerous railway connected vehicles. The likes of NWR, Track Renewal contractors, Westinghouse Signals, Weld a Rail etc.

Today there was 1 Road Rail Landrover, an EWS tanker, 1 NWR courier type van, 1 Amey Colas crewbus and 2 artics delivering S+C units south down the M1.

Is this an indication of how far the reduction in staffing / workload has affected the rail industry?

 

[es373]

I dont think so as less P way staff = less trackwork done = safety..really bad.....

I would have thought that they're out on jobs somewhere as I know theres a hell of a lot of track work going on around the country.

 

[ole man]

I spent about 6 hours today on the A1 / M1 between York and Leicester and return.
In the past(2 years ago) I would expect to see numerous railway connected vehicles. The likes of NWR, Track Renewal contractors, Westinghouse Signals, Weld a Rail etc.

Today there was 1 Road Rail Landrover, an EWS tanker, 1 NWR courier type van, 1 Amey Colas crewbus and 2 artics delivering S+C units south down the M1.

Is this an indication of how far the reduction in staffing / workload has affected the rail industry?

Yes im afraid, i work for one of Network Rail biggest contractors and we have no frontline staff anymore, we use various agencies to do our work, and a huge percent use they own vehicles.
Go back 5 years and our vans where everywhere,from south wales to Newcastle, we closed most of our depots and use 3 main depots in the whole of the uk instead of the 25 we had.
I blame network rail for the lack of full time staff in the railway, they mess contractors around, delay jobs, and in some cases don't give certain contractors projects or work for many months at a time, which of course leads to companies laying staff off.
This reliance of agency staff was suppose to stop after the Rugby/Liverpool St xmas incidents, which to a certain extent was coursed by agency workers picking the highest wage and bonuses after agreeing to work at a certain place then changing there mind.

 

[DarloRich]

could be that all NR road deliveries are handled by DHL so you didnt know you were passing rail related vehicles!

http://www.roadtransport.com/Articl...bution-contract-worth-16340m-with-Network.htm
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
or

http://www.railwaypeople.com/rail-n...te-2-9m-of-savings-for-network-rail-2063.html

 

[Ploughman]

I thought it was as said by Ole Man.
It was quite noticeable yesterday the almost total absence of branded vehicles. As I said not just the NWR and major contractors but also the smaller sub contractors and plant operators like Hydrex.

 

[ole man]

Also you have to bear in mind,that trackwork in the uk during the day has reduced.
It is frowned upon these days to do any engineering work that will disrupt any service, ever since the WCML was upgraded our work during daylight is now nearly non existant.