TfW Rail Limited Board Minutes - 10 December 2021

10 December 2021

09:00 - 12:30

Venue: online

James Price (Chair) Peter Strachan ; Heather Clash; Jan Chaudhry; James Price; Alexia Course and Marie Daly.

In attendance: David O’Leary; Rachel Davies and Jeremy Morgan.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

None

A quorum being present, the Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and declared the meeting open.

None declared.

The Board discussed the background to the incidents and subsequent action taken over two SPAD incidents during Rail Period 8.

The Board viewed a video of the recent works carried out at Cardiff Queen St station.

The minutes of the TfW Rail Board meeting 12 November 2021 were approved as a true and accurate record.

The actions log was noted with several updates included in the meeting.

The previous period was poor in terms of performance primarily resulting from seasonal issues and technical network incidents. The Board were assured that this is not an endemic problem and that several issues came together including adverse Autumn conditions, continuing rolling stock and resourcing issues, particularly for Sundays, and a reliance on overtime working. Some of the traincrew issues were as a result of recruitment and training lost during 2020 and 2021 Covid suspensions, but the emphaisis was now on accelerating conductor training for new entrants, particularly at the Cardiff depots. The Board discussed the causes of the position on drivers, conductors and some of the rolling stock fleets, and the action plans laid out to improve the position.

James Price temporarily left the meeting and Peter Strachan took over as Chair.

The Board were informed that the root causes of recent poor performance had been investigated. Lessons have been learnt where planning had not factored in prediction and prevention, particularly around resourcing.

REDACTED

James Price rejoined the meeting.

The Board discussed options for improving workforce resilience and requested a paper on risks and opportunities around the flexible deployment of staff [Action Marie Daly]. Should there be favourable weather and network conditions, there is an opportunity to rebuild performance back to pre-September levels in the early part of 2022.

REDACTED

New Year Day services will not run in 2022. The Board agreed that forward planning on whether to run future New Year’s Day services should be taken earlier in the year.

A response from the Welsh Government is still awaited on inflationary fare increases for 2022.

Stephanie Raymond joined the meeting. End of Rail Period 8 results were favourable with operating subsidy less than anticipated due to COVID recovery through increasing passenger numbers. Capex subsidy was less than anticipated due to the timing of Canton depot spend, new fleet introduction, and various fleet related BAU projects.

REDACTED. The Board agreed the need to develop strategic thinking around planning for potential underspend.

The Management Accounts were noted.

REDCATED

The Board discussed current issues around the introduction of two trains per hour between Wrexham and Bidston in time for the May 2022 timetable. TfW and Network Rail are of the view that it may be possible to run two trains per hour during the May timetable period but due to the need to find a resolution to access rights issues it would not be until late Summer/Autumn 2022.

The Board agreed:

• to discuss the issue with Network Rail [Action James Price]; 
• to draft a letter from the Welsh Government to Network Rail expressing disappointment over its objections to approving access rights [Action James Price];
• to raise with the Welsh Government its investment in a cement works which is driving freight paths impacting the ability to run two trains per hour between Wrexham and Bidston [Action James Price and Alexia Course]; 
• discuss the issues and possible solutions with GB RailFreight [Action Alexia Course and Colin Lea].

Owen Clutterbuck left the meeting.

The Board discussed timetable options for the deployment of the second tranche of MkIV vehicles for either a threehourly service between Manchester and Cardiff or Swansea, or a two-hourly service between Manchester and Cardiff with one journey to and from Swansea. The Board approved in principle a recommendation to implement a twohourly frequency between Cardiff and Manchester, to maximise the quality of the customer offer and leverage revenue opportunities subject to a review of opex cost modelling and a stronger supporting narrative, and for the proposition to be put to the Welsh Government for approval [Action Alexia Course].

Andrew Gainsbury and Colin Lea left the meeting.

REDACTED

The Board approved changes to the OLR Grant Agreement approval process subject to: (1) a lean exercise on the Grant Agreement governance processes (2) identifying the most slimline version of a concession contract in existence under current legislation to compare and contrast the TfW Rail Grant Agreement [Action Alexia Course].

The Board approved the implementation of a contract with Tusker Direct Limited (Tusker) providing employees with access to a low emissions car lease scheme. Learnings from the TfW group scheme have been built into TfW Rail scheme. The Board were informed that the balance sheet impact is being considered and that the scheme would be noted in the Welsh Government Operational Board.

The Board also requested consideration of how the scheme could benefit operational vehicle schemes [Action Marie Daly].

The Board approved an option to replace two walkways on each gate array with VIX fitted gates to allow for less intervention for both staff and customers.

The Commercial update was noted. It was confirmed that the Welsh Government has asked TfW to take part in DfT’s Return to Leisure campaign and discounted advance purchase tickets in Rail Periods 12 and 13.

Andy Slater, Dan Tipper and Owen Clutterbuck joined the meeting REDACTED.

The Chair closed the meeting and thanked all attendees for their attendance and contributions.