Today I had a conversation with somebody I used to work with who told me of different thinking for manning B&R, using a dedicated crew financed by the different TOC's based at Wigan. Does anybody have any information about this?

This is the latest proposals from DBS, they only cover recovery on Net Rail, and if you have private sites/infrastructure, like many sites that Train operators have, then they may not respond unless you have paid into a central fund.

Some TOC/FOCs have not signed into this and have gone their own way, if they have an incident on Net Rail then Net Rail sort it via DBS. And if they have an incident on their own or a third party site (other than Net Rail) then they send their own crew (or a contract crew such as Arlington Rail) to recover, FCC at Hornsey also recover on Net Rail too, mainly though their own vehicles.

DBS's intention is to man the three sites they have, I think, Wigan, Bescot or Didcot and Millerhill with staff that are there only for incidents, a bit like how LUL Emergency Response Unit does it for TfL.

Breakdown and Recovery causes massive disruption to day to day running of depots, as it takes away core staff from their normal duties, this coupled with working time directives, means that it takes a big drain on production at depots, it is getting increasingly harder to supply staff, and especially specially trained staff, as you can probably appriciate, you can't just send a gang of blokes to a job, they have to know how that equipment works and where to lift, as modern vehicles can be severely damaged if lifted incorrectly.

Other TOCs/FOCs that have the equipment and trained staff are: FCC at Hornsey, Brighton (I think). East Mids Trains at Derby and Neville Hill, Freightliner at Crewe, Southampton and Felixstowe, DRS, LUL (TfL) at Acton, Stratford, Neasden and Battersea, Other private operators also offer a service, Arlington and RRS are a couple.
There may well be others I've not mentioned, appologies if I've left you out.

Simon,
Thanks for the information. Strange way to run a railway but I do understand the reasons behind it.

Regards
Dick

what happened previously then if a derailment or incident occured in a non network rail yard. Did NR cover the cost of the rerailing using its equipment?

Richard,

The responsibility for dealing with derailments that occur off of Network Rail controlled infrastructure generally lies with the infrastructure owner. For example within yards, sidings and depots owned or leased by the various train and freight operating companies it is down to them. Of course DBS and the few others who have their own equipment will tend to deal with matters themselves, although they may need to hire in plant such as a road crane. Smaller operators may seek assistance from DBS or another operator of rerailing equipment, or even just a road crane operator depending upon the circumstancies, in extreme circumstancies they may request assistance from Network Rail if a rail mounted breakdown crane is needed. Owners of private sidings (eg. aggregate terminals) or industrial rail systems (eg. steelworks) will generally seek assistance via their train operator who will then either respond themselves or arrange to hire in resources. On the larger sites (particularly where internal user locos and wagons are involved, the infrastructure owner may have an arrangement with their track maintenance contractor to facilitate rerailing as they will invariably need to attend to undertake track repairs once the derailment has been cleared.

Hope this clarifies things a little.

Hi gents was wondering whether there has been any more progress made regarding the dedicated teams around the above mentioned sites for the proposed specific rerailing teams thanks Steve

I found this comment just now on Railforums looks like the proposals are going ahead.

DB Schenker are recruiting 60 Breakdown and Recovery staff comprising of 30 Team Members, 15 Supervisors and 50 Crane Operators. Locations are Didcot (nr Oxford), Wigan and Millerhill (Scotland)

Good opportunity for anyone off the street looking to get into the industry. I don't believe any experience is required for the Team Member role although positions are offered subject to an interview and passing a Railway Medical.

_________________
Bryan

http://www.nymr-pway.co.uk/

Just looked them up on the website, £19k for a Team member doing 42 hours a week and 28 days leave including bank holidays? I think i'll pass thanks..

Think these jobs will be very interesting but it's a shame about the salaries and conditions, I think it may be difficult to retain staff but good luck to the successful applicants.

Dick

So when there isn't a 'Breakdown on' what will the teams be doing? Any idea how much notice to steam they'd need, ranging from a simple jacking job to a full scale one or more crane recovery?