With the day to day running of rail services around the country it can be easy to get bogged down in the present, making sure that you deliver everything on time and in budget.
Despite this, it is important to celebrate the achievements within the industry whilst also acknowledging the challenges that it faces. This was the message from Network Rail’s Capital Delivery Director, Tim Walden, as he addressed delegates at TransCityRail South 2025.
Commenting on the reasons to celebrate the work that the industry does, Tim said:
“I think we’ve lost sight of the fact that there are reasons to be cheerful about our industry, and what more exciting way to start than the Wales and Western scorecard?
“Where I work in the Wales and Western Region of Network Rail, we’ve delivered absolutely fantastic performance against the measures the regulator sets for us. We’ve delivered more renewals than we said we would, we’ve outperformed on the amount of milestones we’re going to deliver for enhancements, it’s been the safest year in the capital portfolio since the creation of the Western and Wales Region.
“And we need to be more confident in shouting about that and celebrating that.”
Only recently, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her Spending Review and that was another thing that Tim wanted to celebrate as being key for the development of an improved railway. Tim commented on the fact that the Spending Review brought a clear commitment to supporting the rail industry as an enabler of growth.
“They (the Government) have options to put money elsewhere to enable growth, but they have shown commitment to us,” Tim continued. “And that is one of the key reasons that we should be excited, and we have a reason to celebrate that vocally.”
Tim’s message did, however, bring a warning to the industry that there cannot be any complacency despite these reasons to celebrate. Whilst funding is available, there is still work to be done to make sure that rail projects continue to allow the industry to be an enabler of growth, and support rail’s role as a facilitator rather than simply the end goal. Yes, delivering rail projects may be the end goal of the industry, but that work is done to support a wider objective.
Tim commented on the what the industry needs to continue to do, saying:
“We have got billions of pounds – and we’ll understand the detail when it comes out next week – but we’ve got to challenge that every single step of the way or we will never get that delivery confidence. We will never see third parties being confident in investing in us, because that’s what they think we are like.
“There are local authorities, there’s combined authorities, there’s devolved transport. These people are all desperate to invest in us, all because rail is not the outcome, but it is seen as an area of growth.”
Tim’s insights serve as a reminder that, while challenges exist, there are also significant reasons to be optimistic about the future of the industry. Whilst it is important to celebrate the wins and the role that the industry can play in wider goals across the country, it is also vital that working practices are challenged and improved so that confidence in the industry to deliver remains.
