Toufic Machnouk, the Managing Director at GBRX, addressed TransCityRail SOUTH at Twickenham Stadium this morning to explain how the rail industry can take a more holistic approach to modernisation.
Promoting a new entrepreneurial approach to modernisation, Toufic said: “Innovation is hard by nature because it works against the inertia of the world as it is, and it is made harder by complex systems.
“In our industry, we have the challenge of not having aligned incentives to tackle problems.”
Toufic said that these incentives for change often transcend the boundaries of track and train, and require holistic solutions.
He spoke also about the need to achieve breakthroughs in modernisation in what he described as a “crossroads” for the rail industry.
He anticipates that over the coming decade the Government will lead a digital agenda, and that the rail industry plays a key part in enabling this.
He pointed to the progress made since 2018 with the transition to digital signalling in the face of several emerging and successive challenges to the industry, from the collapse of the franchising system to the Covid pandemic.
Toufic’s explanation for how this was made possible is succinct: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He elaborated, stating that you must understand the environment in which you work before trying to exact change.
He continued: “I have been in every corner of our industry, and I assure you there are no magic solutions.”
However, applying an entrepreneurial method, and understanding the conditions within which you are trying to solve a problem, makes the eventual solution far more effective.
Image credit: Rail Technology Magazine
