Episode 1

Inside Track

Episode 1 -Operations Welcome to the first episode of Inside Track. This week, Emma is joined by Dave Penney, MD of Chiltern Railways and Alan Riley, Customer Service Director of Chiltern Railways to answer your questions about Operations. Time stamps: [1:04] - Emma asks Dave Penney why Chiltern Railways is doing a podcast. [1:32] - Dave explains what his proudest achievement has been since he has been MD. [1.59] - Dave explains why Chiltern Railways is not your usual train operator because of the investment it has put in over the years. [3:47] - Emma asks Dave Penney what made him decide to work in the railway and he explains that he has always wanted to work in the railway and loves the industry. [4.34] - Alan Riley explains that he is looking forward to taking part in all six podcasts. [5.35] - Dave Penney answers a customer question about why trains have different carriages and if it is reflective of the route or if it is random. [7.02] - Dave Penney apologises for recent problems with trains needing additional maintenance. [9:19] - Dave Penney answers a customer question about how trains are shuffled around the Network if there’s delays on the network. [11:10] - Alan Riley is asked about what his team do to plan for disruption. [12:15] - Dave Penney answers a customer question about how you construct a timetable. [14:49] - Alan Riley explains what impact events have on the timetable. [16:12] - Dave Penney answers a customer question about where train crew go if a train is cancelled due to a lack of train crew. [19:10] - An interview is played with Karen Hornby at Network Rail who explains more about how the organisation works with Train Operating Companies and the challenges they face. [23:00] - Dave Penney and Alan Riley comment on this interview particularly picking up on the importance of working in partnership with Network Rail. [25:00] - Dave Penney answers a customer question about the long term impact on fatalities and reinforces how difficult this is. [26:24] - Alan Riley talks about Samaritans Training and also about opening conversations with people. [27:42] - A customer asks why are the trains late and compares to space travel. Dave Penney discusses this question and also talks about performance of Chiltern services. [29:00] - A child from High Wycombe asks how you can stop a train with a Watermelon like on Thomas the Tank Engine. This is discussed by Dave Penney and Alan Riley and talk about how much children love the railway. [30:20] - Alan Riley explains that Chiltern Railways has run several services for children including a Christmas special and a Kids Coach.