Dominic Booth is right to warn that taking too many franchises in-house too quickly won’t help passengers and could backfire
Dominic Booth, CEO of Transport UK
After generally a ‘free pass’ from significant criticism since presiding in the public sector, train company Northern recently received a stinging rebuke from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who described its performance as ‘embarrassing’. This follows a difficult period for Northern, on the back of poor publicity in the wake of the judicial decision that quashed its prosecution through a Single Justice Procedure of customers for fare evasion and also its punitive stance on what appeared to be genuine errors by customers using railcards within time restrictions that over the summer were previously permissible.
The damning verdict on Northern didn’t go unnoticed by senior rail industry leader Dominic Booth and his colleagues at Transport UK. They took to the media, pleading for the government to slow down the process of transferring TOCs to a nationalised structure and called for more measured thinking and greater consultation to get to the desired state of better customer service. Booth and his team members weren’t shy in criticising the stewardship of TOCs under Directly Owned Holdings Limited (DOHL). Dominic described it as “woeful”. They also drew comparisons with their franchises – Greater Anglia, East Midlands Railway and West Midlands Railway – who have, on all fronts, performed well and, over time, better than their peers in the sector. Since 2003, Transport UK (including in its previous guise at Abellio) has also presided, with Serco, over the successful Merseyrail concession.
Booth not unreasonably asked that his 40-year rail experience be listened to
Booth not unreasonably asked that his 40-year rail experience be listened to. But as my most recent article explained, it’s not cool to listen to old rail industry stagers when considering seismic change. Dominic is renowned as a ‘no nonsense’ leader, who talks sense, but forthrightly so. Cynics might cite self-interest; after all, he led a management buy-out from Abellio to create Transport UK, and his business model will have been predicated by the retention of their franchises. I suspect he’d still be saying the same thing, irrespective. In the annals of the railway’s privatised era, Dominic Booth will go down as one of the most notable and astute contributors and therefore very worthy of being listened to when plotting the future. Anyway, we’ll return to him later.
During my journeys across the UK last week, I reflected on the case for private versus public and concluded, once more, that sound leadership holds the key more than anything.
The same staff and managers will keep trains and stations running, whatever the ownership structure. Strong leadership, customer focus, buoyed by detail focus and a thorough knowledge of the railway’s operational nuances, will shine through, and that’s where Booth and his winning formula should be drawn upon.
I had three varying experiences in adversity that played on my mind. Let’s start with the negative – Blackburn station, two Saturdays ago, where, due to engineering works, there were no trains between Preston and Burnley. The visibility of signage at Preston station was poor but not in the same subterranean league as Blackburn station. Here, a railway staff presence was non-existent, so too even basic information explaining that there were no trains or where to pick up rail replacement services or where they ran to and from, or whether they connected with services to onward destinations. There’s no longer a ticket office at Blackburn – these are no longer deemed as fashionable in many places, even large towns. I recall DOHL top brass being very exercised and unhappy with Transport Focus for their role, on our behalf as customers, in kiboshing the wholesale ticket office closure proposals last year.
To compound matters, Blackburn was in the spotlight this Saturday, as their football team hosted Sheffield United live on TV, so it was busier than normal, including with confused visiting supporters from Yorkshire. Blackburn isn’t a sleepy halt, but is instead a busy, high-profile town, thronging with shoppers and workers on a Saturday and, as I discovered when researching a week earlier for a promotional blog in my Great Scenic Journeys business, it has some lovely places to visit. So disappointing for me, when trying to encourage first time visitors to come, that their experience by rail is poor. If Blackburn station was left to its own devices that day, you can only dare imagine the experience for customers at the many smaller stations with rail replacement services on this busy route.
Before and after the game, Northern staff were invisible, and there were two well-intentioned ‘rail replacement coordinators’ doing their best
Before and after the game, Northern staff were invisible, and there were two well-intentioned ‘rail replacement coordinators’ doing their best. One looked like he had just left school but was working hard in adversity. How better could he have done it had he been supported by a railway employee with local knowledge and leadership skills? Customers also looked on with bemusement because the coordinators were wearing Arriva hi-visibility vests (perhaps the franchise had been handed back to Arriva, one wag joked, not knowing that Arriva’s Rail Replacement arm was managing the service).
The night before, I experienced a situation that was well managed in adversity. Travelling from Glasgow, my Avanti train suffered a power outage, curtailing the Preston trip. When the service was initially delayed at Lancaster, the staff immediately gave us a running commentary, walking through the train, apologising, offering ‘Delay Repay’ and being really attentive. Then, when the train was cancelled at Preston, we were chaperoned off and given copious advice. On my way home to London from Preston the following day, once again, the on-board Avanti staff kept customers updated on their options.
Finally, last week, I endured a two-and-a-quarter hour journey across 14 miles from Shepperton to London due firstly to trespassers on the track and then our train breaking down. The driver and guard were quick off the mark, advising customers, but it was clear from their body language and overhearing conversations that decision-making by control was slow in terms of providing alternatives and moving our train out of the way. We eventually changed platforms at Norbiton and boarded another train in the opposite direction via Richmond to Waterloo.
My trips made me reflect on how dependent the industry is on solid leadership, particularly that which inspires and motivates middle and junior managers to be all over the detail, proactive, and decisively, even if there might be a risk of making the wrong decisions. What level of planning went into managing the engineering works on Northern? I would have expected to see key locations filled with managers and HQ staff, mucking in, or at the very least, immersed in the detail to ensure signage and information was prevalent and outsourced rail replacement staff supported. It would be interesting to see if Northern had a post-event debrief.
I’ve said it often, but I have found the Avanti culture and staff to be one where everyone pulls out all the stops in adversity
By contrast, what led to such high levels of proactivity, attentiveness, and empathy from Avanti staff? I’ve said it often, but I have found the Avanti culture and staff to be one where everyone pulls out all the stops in adversity. I once bumped into Avanti’s managing director, Andy Mellors, on one of his trains and watched him and his operations director meticulously deal with major floods, consumed as they always are in the details.
My final adversity occurred on South Western Railway – a company to which I give the benefit of the doubt, having earned my trust in recent years. However, the company’s slowness in reacting to an operational situation plays to my fears that the industry is creating a more risk-averse template in which those in charge of operational decisions seem less experienced or inclined to act decisively.
Ultimately, it comes down to how motivated frontline staff and their immediate managers are. As a consultant and employee, I’ve worked for train companies where local managers and their superiors go through the motions and others where there has been energy and relentless focus towards planning and delivering for unforeseen disruptions, engineering works or even ‘business as usual’ activities,such as ensuring the plants on the platform are watered so that they bloom.
In terms of leadership, it’s commonly understood that DOHL like to give autonomy to their TOC executive teams. By contrast, FirstGroup’s style has been one of close stewardship and probing questions from the ‘centre’ towards its train companies. I observe that First Rail’s managing director, Steve Montgomery, one of the most operationally knowledgeable leaders, is also very close to the detail. So, too, from my experience over two decades ago of working under Dominic Booth when he ran a portfolio of train companies at National Express. Last week was only a snapshot, but the private sector approach won based on my journeys.
I always felt the transfer of TOCs to public ownership was a tad unfair. This isn’t because I strongly believe that train companies are best residing in the private sector. I felt they were scapegoats for a flawed structure and suffered because of a media and stakeholder agenda that wasn’t always fair and objective. I don’t see any tangible difference in my experience travelling on Northern, as I did when Arriva was in charge, nor with LNER, Southeastern or TransPennine. My trips on Northern generally are positive. It would be interesting to do a detailed financial comparison to determine which models – private or public – generated better value for the taxpayer. That’s an article for another day.
I’m a realist, and I suspect very little, if anything, will be different on my local line. Same old, same old
Imminently, the first franchises to come under public ownership in the ‘new world’ will be announced. The personnel will stay the same, particularly as Dominic Booth attests that DOHL doesn’t have the resources to consume all these transfers. If, as many predict, South Western Railway moves into state control, we’ll read impressive press releases about “planned improvements… more trains, greater reliability, flexible fares” and maybe the odd comment along the lines of “for too long customers on this line have suffered from delays and cancellations, now is the time for change”. I’m a realist, and I suspect very little, if anything, will be different on my local line. Same old, same old. All this represents a lot of upheaval, and it is too quick across the entire industry, just for very similar customer outcomes.
I admire Dominic Booth’s outspokenness. It’s about time he and his colleagues are listened to before it’s too late. In my long career, I recall only three or four instances of genuine wisdom bequeathed towards me from senior leaders – one of which was from Booth, in 2003 when he told me “a career is a marathon not a sprint”, something I didn’t want to hear as I was obsessed with climbing the greasy career pole as quickly as possible. To this day, I still regret not taking heed of his advice. Dominic used the same phrase in one of his recent articles to describe the need to slow down the process of enacting such major structural change. I was an idiot not to listen to his wise words; let’s hope the rest of the industry isn’t so foolish, too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alex Warner has over 30 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector. He is co-founder of recruitment business Lost Group and transport consultancy AJW Experience Group (which includes Great Scenic Journeys). He is also chair of West Midlands Grand Rail Collaboration and chair of Surrey FA.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’
by Passenger Transport on Nov 15, 2024 • 4:01 pm No CommentsDominic Booth is right to warn that taking too many franchises in-house too quickly won’t help passengers and could backfire
After generally a ‘free pass’ from significant criticism since presiding in the public sector, train company Northern recently received a stinging rebuke from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who described its performance as ‘embarrassing’. This follows a difficult period for Northern, on the back of poor publicity in the wake of the judicial decision that quashed its prosecution through a Single Justice Procedure of customers for fare evasion and also its punitive stance on what appeared to be genuine errors by customers using railcards within time restrictions that over the summer were previously permissible.
The damning verdict on Northern didn’t go unnoticed by senior rail industry leader Dominic Booth and his colleagues at Transport UK. They took to the media, pleading for the government to slow down the process of transferring TOCs to a nationalised structure and called for more measured thinking and greater consultation to get to the desired state of better customer service. Booth and his team members weren’t shy in criticising the stewardship of TOCs under Directly Owned Holdings Limited (DOHL). Dominic described it as “woeful”. They also drew comparisons with their franchises – Greater Anglia, East Midlands Railway and West Midlands Railway – who have, on all fronts, performed well and, over time, better than their peers in the sector. Since 2003, Transport UK (including in its previous guise at Abellio) has also presided, with Serco, over the successful Merseyrail concession.
Booth not unreasonably asked that his 40-year rail experience be listened to. But as my most recent article explained, it’s not cool to listen to old rail industry stagers when considering seismic change. Dominic is renowned as a ‘no nonsense’ leader, who talks sense, but forthrightly so. Cynics might cite self-interest; after all, he led a management buy-out from Abellio to create Transport UK, and his business model will have been predicated by the retention of their franchises. I suspect he’d still be saying the same thing, irrespective. In the annals of the railway’s privatised era, Dominic Booth will go down as one of the most notable and astute contributors and therefore very worthy of being listened to when plotting the future. Anyway, we’ll return to him later.
During my journeys across the UK last week, I reflected on the case for private versus public and concluded, once more, that sound leadership holds the key more than anything.
The same staff and managers will keep trains and stations running, whatever the ownership structure. Strong leadership, customer focus, buoyed by detail focus and a thorough knowledge of the railway’s operational nuances, will shine through, and that’s where Booth and his winning formula should be drawn upon.
I had three varying experiences in adversity that played on my mind. Let’s start with the negative – Blackburn station, two Saturdays ago, where, due to engineering works, there were no trains between Preston and Burnley. The visibility of signage at Preston station was poor but not in the same subterranean league as Blackburn station. Here, a railway staff presence was non-existent, so too even basic information explaining that there were no trains or where to pick up rail replacement services or where they ran to and from, or whether they connected with services to onward destinations. There’s no longer a ticket office at Blackburn – these are no longer deemed as fashionable in many places, even large towns. I recall DOHL top brass being very exercised and unhappy with Transport Focus for their role, on our behalf as customers, in kiboshing the wholesale ticket office closure proposals last year.
To compound matters, Blackburn was in the spotlight this Saturday, as their football team hosted Sheffield United live on TV, so it was busier than normal, including with confused visiting supporters from Yorkshire. Blackburn isn’t a sleepy halt, but is instead a busy, high-profile town, thronging with shoppers and workers on a Saturday and, as I discovered when researching a week earlier for a promotional blog in my Great Scenic Journeys business, it has some lovely places to visit. So disappointing for me, when trying to encourage first time visitors to come, that their experience by rail is poor. If Blackburn station was left to its own devices that day, you can only dare imagine the experience for customers at the many smaller stations with rail replacement services on this busy route.
Before and after the game, Northern staff were invisible, and there were two well-intentioned ‘rail replacement coordinators’ doing their best. One looked like he had just left school but was working hard in adversity. How better could he have done it had he been supported by a railway employee with local knowledge and leadership skills? Customers also looked on with bemusement because the coordinators were wearing Arriva hi-visibility vests (perhaps the franchise had been handed back to Arriva, one wag joked, not knowing that Arriva’s Rail Replacement arm was managing the service).
The night before, I experienced a situation that was well managed in adversity. Travelling from Glasgow, my Avanti train suffered a power outage, curtailing the Preston trip. When the service was initially delayed at Lancaster, the staff immediately gave us a running commentary, walking through the train, apologising, offering ‘Delay Repay’ and being really attentive. Then, when the train was cancelled at Preston, we were chaperoned off and given copious advice. On my way home to London from Preston the following day, once again, the on-board Avanti staff kept customers updated on their options.
Finally, last week, I endured a two-and-a-quarter hour journey across 14 miles from Shepperton to London due firstly to trespassers on the track and then our train breaking down. The driver and guard were quick off the mark, advising customers, but it was clear from their body language and overhearing conversations that decision-making by control was slow in terms of providing alternatives and moving our train out of the way. We eventually changed platforms at Norbiton and boarded another train in the opposite direction via Richmond to Waterloo.
My trips made me reflect on how dependent the industry is on solid leadership, particularly that which inspires and motivates middle and junior managers to be all over the detail, proactive, and decisively, even if there might be a risk of making the wrong decisions. What level of planning went into managing the engineering works on Northern? I would have expected to see key locations filled with managers and HQ staff, mucking in, or at the very least, immersed in the detail to ensure signage and information was prevalent and outsourced rail replacement staff supported. It would be interesting to see if Northern had a post-event debrief.
By contrast, what led to such high levels of proactivity, attentiveness, and empathy from Avanti staff? I’ve said it often, but I have found the Avanti culture and staff to be one where everyone pulls out all the stops in adversity. I once bumped into Avanti’s managing director, Andy Mellors, on one of his trains and watched him and his operations director meticulously deal with major floods, consumed as they always are in the details.
My final adversity occurred on South Western Railway – a company to which I give the benefit of the doubt, having earned my trust in recent years. However, the company’s slowness in reacting to an operational situation plays to my fears that the industry is creating a more risk-averse template in which those in charge of operational decisions seem less experienced or inclined to act decisively.
Ultimately, it comes down to how motivated frontline staff and their immediate managers are. As a consultant and employee, I’ve worked for train companies where local managers and their superiors go through the motions and others where there has been energy and relentless focus towards planning and delivering for unforeseen disruptions, engineering works or even ‘business as usual’ activities,such as ensuring the plants on the platform are watered so that they bloom.
In terms of leadership, it’s commonly understood that DOHL like to give autonomy to their TOC executive teams. By contrast, FirstGroup’s style has been one of close stewardship and probing questions from the ‘centre’ towards its train companies. I observe that First Rail’s managing director, Steve Montgomery, one of the most operationally knowledgeable leaders, is also very close to the detail. So, too, from my experience over two decades ago of working under Dominic Booth when he ran a portfolio of train companies at National Express. Last week was only a snapshot, but the private sector approach won based on my journeys.
I always felt the transfer of TOCs to public ownership was a tad unfair. This isn’t because I strongly believe that train companies are best residing in the private sector. I felt they were scapegoats for a flawed structure and suffered because of a media and stakeholder agenda that wasn’t always fair and objective. I don’t see any tangible difference in my experience travelling on Northern, as I did when Arriva was in charge, nor with LNER, Southeastern or TransPennine. My trips on Northern generally are positive. It would be interesting to do a detailed financial comparison to determine which models – private or public – generated better value for the taxpayer. That’s an article for another day.
Imminently, the first franchises to come under public ownership in the ‘new world’ will be announced. The personnel will stay the same, particularly as Dominic Booth attests that DOHL doesn’t have the resources to consume all these transfers. If, as many predict, South Western Railway moves into state control, we’ll read impressive press releases about “planned improvements… more trains, greater reliability, flexible fares” and maybe the odd comment along the lines of “for too long customers on this line have suffered from delays and cancellations, now is the time for change”. I’m a realist, and I suspect very little, if anything, will be different on my local line. Same old, same old. All this represents a lot of upheaval, and it is too quick across the entire industry, just for very similar customer outcomes.
I admire Dominic Booth’s outspokenness. It’s about time he and his colleagues are listened to before it’s too late. In my long career, I recall only three or four instances of genuine wisdom bequeathed towards me from senior leaders – one of which was from Booth, in 2003 when he told me “a career is a marathon not a sprint”, something I didn’t want to hear as I was obsessed with climbing the greasy career pole as quickly as possible. To this day, I still regret not taking heed of his advice. Dominic used the same phrase in one of his recent articles to describe the need to slow down the process of enacting such major structural change. I was an idiot not to listen to his wise words; let’s hope the rest of the industry isn’t so foolish, too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alex Warner has over 30 years’ experience in the transport sector, having held senior roles on a multi-modal basis across the sector. He is co-founder of recruitment business Lost Group and transport consultancy AJW Experience Group (which includes Great Scenic Journeys). He is also chair of West Midlands Grand Rail Collaboration and chair of Surrey FA.
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.
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