DEALING WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2018 :: RMTnews 16 Delegates to the 2018 national organising signalling and operation grades conference met in Elgin City football club in northern Scotland last month. Network Rail RMT national operations council representative Phil Boorman said that plans to introduce a ‘digital railway’ by the company were clearly designed to rationalise the workforce. He said that it was important the union was involved in any plans to introduce new technology to ensure jobs were safeguarded. Over the last two control periods spanning 10 years Network Rail introduced cuts to operations and maintenance of around 40 per cent. The Strategic Business Plans for Control Period 6 aim to cut a further 10 per cent in real terms. Network Rail describe a key problem as being “a failure to embrace digital technology resulting in an over reliance on manual processes that are still controlled by a 19th century system of trackside coloured lights and signal boxes”. Over the next 15 years it will be renewing over 60 per cent of signalling equipment and use that opportunity to fully introduce the Digital Railway. A key Network Rail target is to eliminate analogue resignalling from the network over the next five years. NR has noted that savings delivered from the national operating strategy will primarily be from “a reduction in the overall number of people required to manage the flow of traffic with consolidation into a single location”. As a result it will be spending a substantial amount on preparing the network for the digital railway, and have forecast an increase in expenditure for the next 15 years on the resignalling projects. Conference called on the union to meet with Network Rail regarding over the continued role out of the Hitachi Automatic Route Setting (ARS). Tin Breed, North Staffs said that multiple nationwide problems existed anywhere where Hitachi ARS had attempted to be brought into use including Tring Workstation, Rugby Signalling Centre Control, Stafford Workstation and Rugby ROC to name but a few. “This is placing signalling staff at increasing risk of making safety-related mistakes and it is not fit for purpose. “We can no longer tolerate rail workers and the travelling public being put at risk by this cheap not fit for purpose system,” he said. NR RMT national operations council rep Mark Bellenie also reported a long list of problems concerning the use of ARS including the re-routing of trains into wrong and unsuitable platforms and into possessions. Conference demanded that the role out and design of workstations utilising Hitachi ARS technology should be halted and that a dispute situation would exist should Network Rail refuse to do so. Dave Bithell, Wrexham also said that new technology had also been introduced in other signalling locations including the installation of new equipment such as Global Satellite Mobile Radio (GSMR) and other equipment creating additional workloads. “More responsibility is now DEALING WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY Signalling and operation grades met in Scotland to discuss new technology and Network Rail cuts