Network Rail consultancy sets sights on North America and India

Listen to this article

Network Rail bosses said they would be targeting infrastructure projects in North America and India during a press conference for the InnoTrans launch of the company’s new international consultancy.

The managing director of Network Rail Consulting, Nigel Ash, said the consultancy would be looking to take on contracts in North America, Central and Eastern Europe and India – countries with ageing networks and a rising demand for extra capacity.

The new company offers an advisory role for policy development, procurement and re-structuring, strategic planning, asset management, operations maintenance, providing advice on timetabling and maintenance regimes and a project management service for capital projects.

Nigel Ash, managing director of Network Rail Consulting, said: “The main focus is actually showcasing our expertise around the world. And it’s also about bringing some of the expertise and the knowledge and learning processes back into the UK so by having staff working on international projects they’re used to working in different environments, different cultures and different ways of doing business.

“We’re not going into the market with a ‘this is the way we do things in the UK’ it’s very much around what’s the problem and how does that experience help you stop that problem, are there any similarities, any pitfalls we’ve had.

“There’s been some projects in the past which could have been managed better and that experience is very valuable.”

Simon Kirby, managing director of investment projects, said: “We’ve clearly come a long way in terms of project delivery over recent years with fantastic, iconic buildings now created like Kings Cross, some of the Thameslink stations, Blackfriars, Farringdon, fantastic steps forward and really a reflection on the industry’s ability to deliver projects in the previous cost period but now as we look to CP5 it’s about how do we sustain that performance going forward.

“It’s all about helping other countries and advising other countries and really sharing some of the learning within Network Rail and also again working collaboratively with UK consultants on an international stage.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...