TfW Rail Limited Board Minutes - 21 July 2023

21 July 2023

09:30 - 13:00

Venue: St Patrick’s House, Hybrid

James Price (Chair), Heather Clash, Jan Chaudhry Van der Velde, Marie Daly, and Alexia Course.

In attendance: Stephanie Raymond (Items 6-9), Andy Quinton (Item 9), Alison Thompson (Item 10), Nick Rowe (Item 10), Lewis Brencher (Item 12), Jeremy Morgan (Sec).

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Peter Strachan sent his apologies.

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

None were received.

The minutes from the meeting 23rd June 2023 were approved and the latest Actions Log was noted and amended.

A brief update on safeguarding was provided and it was noted a single policy across the organisation would be developed, including contracts and sub-contractors, and brought to the Executive Leadership Team.

Board noted the safety moment on the planned reconstruction of the Barmouth Bridge later this year. Board discussed the need to ensure ticket checks on bus replacement services [Action - Jan Chaudhry Van Der Velde].

The Board noted a customer moment on industrial action customer awareness and recognise good practice.

Board received and noted the Chief Operations Officer's report included in the meeting pack and paid particular attention to the following matters:

• Period 3 Performance - including external events and rolling stock shortages causing issues, positive news on Cl.197s coming into service and future routes, work on REDACTED and the need to ensure driver training keeps up with availability.
• Core Valley Lines - Engineering and Infrastructure work.
• Storage issues - including operational flexibility and resilience.
• Canton Depot - scheme to become more self-sufficient in terms of drivers, and issues around drivers becoming qualified and applying for mainline roles.
• REDACTED
• Wrexham-Bidston - including issues with Cl.230s and the commencement of a deep dive, noting availability of units, time lost, and other issues. It was noted that Jan Chaudhry-Van der Velde would be in the cab in the following week to understand issues more.
• MkIVs - querying the reliability of rolling stock and what can be done about it.

Board noted the report.

Board received a safety assurance update and noted a generally good safety performance and no SPADs.

Board noted the report.

Stephanie Raymond joined the meeting.

REDACTED

Board noted the financial review included in the meeting pack, including the outturn position, vacancy gaps that could cause issues, and some fuel savings included on the unhedged portion.

Andy Quinton joined the meeting.

Board received and noted an update which noted the need to factor in how this would impact services, to start using it to drive action, and to localise P&L to enable understanding and planning. It was noted that operations are geographical not by line of route so this would require time to get traction.

REDACTED

Stephanie Raymond and Andy Quinton left the meeting.

Alison Thompson and Nick Rowe joined the meeting.

Board received and noted an update on AIW Performance, including the tripartite agreement between AIW, TfW and Network Rail with each holding the others to account. It was noted that there are specific working groups focussed on improving performance and work done with local people, such as work on using ‘what 3 words’ for reporting incidents, improved communications on disruption, and work around trespassing and compound security.

Regarding performance improvement, it was noted that work was ongoing with fencing renewals, vegetation management, structures compliance, asset insight, data led decision making on local information, and the appointment of a business improvement specialist.

Board and AIW discussed several current challenges. Engineering access is a particular challenge, but plans are in development to mitigate. Consideration was also given to historic performance, strategic spares, and performance targets, including how the tripartite plan would improve performance.

Alison Thompson and Nick Rowe left the meeting.

Board noted the report.

Lewis Brencher joined the meeting.

Board noted a marketing update, including that overall performance was slightly above target, digital was performing very well, improvements were being back to the marketing CRM system, app downloads had been improved, balancing the impact of the inclusion of price point, and that the Board’s previous feedback had been incorporated.

Board discussed the app and how it is promoted, noting the need to increase registered users and improve how data is used.

Lewis Brencher left the meeting.

REDACTED

No further items of business were raised.

The meeting ended and the Chair thanked everyone for their contributions.