Area Events
New Members Reception
Members who joined the Institution during the last 12 months gathered in London for the CIRO New Members ’ Reception , hosted by the CIRO South East Area Council .
It was a great opportunity for new members to meet those who have been around for a bit longer , as well as the South East Area Council team and invited guests .
Alex Hynes , Director General , Rail Services at the Department for Transport , gave an engaging welcome speech , which included his top ten tips for a career in rail , and becoming a CIRO member ranked very highly on his list .
Alex explained that he was encouraged to join the Institution by career railway professional , Graham Eccles , and how he ’ s never looked back , because membership of the Institution helped him build his professional network and further his career in rail .
Events Roundup
On Wednesday 3 rd July , the CIRO North West & Wales area was kindly hosted by Phil James , Network Rail Route Director , at Square One in Manchester . It was an excellent presentation with 13 members in attendance .
Phil started with a plotted history of his career as a “ railway operator ” and his career path in signalling grades on the North Wales Coast , Chester , Crewe and Manchester areas . Phil has also covered the Infrastructure Maintenance Delivery Director at Euston , looking after Maintenance Delivery units on WCML South .
Phil then gave an overview of a challenging CP7 £ 3.4bn North West budget , of which £ 1.7bn is renewals CAPEX funding . This is all positioned around :
- Delivering a resilient & reliant timetable ; - Spend tax payers money wisely and efficiently ; - To keep people safe .
There is a lot of work planned outside of TRU in the North West , including Manchester Oxford Rd corridor resignalling , Manchester Airport layout improvements and plans on how to deal with Piccadilly life expiring assets .
There was also a discussion on future aspirations for expansion of signalling controls into Manchester ROC and the use of building space .
A more detailed discussion was had on WCML North and preparing for future ETCS , but being smarter with how we invest in renewals and upgrades .
After an excellent 90 mins presentation and Q & A , the CIRO members and area team thanked Phil for an excellent and informative evening .
The Bulletin | Issue 54 | November 2024 35