UK: Southeastern is to reduce off-peak weekday services on four routes in Kent over a six-month period to increase the time available for daylight infrastructure inspections between trains.
The South Eastern Railway integrated leadership of the operator and Network Rail’s Kent Route said this aims to strike a balance between the times of lower passenger demand and the need for essential maintenance. It follows trials on the Medway Valley and Maidstone East lines last year, which ‘proved to be very successful in terms of inspection quality, efficiency and cost savings’.
Benefits to the railway include more accurate visual inspections in natural light, cost savings from reducing overnight work, and freeing up night shifts for complex maintenance tasks that can only be performed when trains are not running.
‘Carrying out more inspections during the day has been made possible by the South Eastern Railway’s joint decision making and shared emphasis on doing the right thing for our people, our customers and the taxpayer’, said South Eastern Railway Safety, Planning & Performance Director Scott Brightwell on July 4. ‘We know it is more efficient to do maintenance inspections in daylight rather than in the early hours of the morning. This increased schedule over the coming months strikes the right balance between the needs of our passengers and the infrastructure maintenance that is required to keep trains running.’
