Re-flow enables the rail industry to meet compliance standards

Experts from Rail Live say the rail industry needs more education, mentoring and cultural changes to attract young talent

“It’s an attractive place to work, but it doesn’t attract people.” That quote from Young Rail Professionals CEO Bonnie Price summed up this year’s Rail Live conference, which took place at the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre from 19 to 20 June.

With all the latest technology and innovations on display at the event, it was easy to see why the rail industry is so attractive.

However, as with much of the infrastructure sector, employee recruitment and retention rates remain alarmingly low across the industry.

Rail Live 2024 Summary

Day one began with a panel discussion on the topic, featuring Bonnie Price (CEO, Young Rail Professionals), Neil Robertson (Chief Executive Officer, NSAR), Sam Riley (Recruitment Consultant, Advance TRS and YRP External Engagement Manager), Caroline Lee (Senior Social Values ​​Advisor, Volker Rail) and Lorna Gibson (Training Director, QTS).

They discussed whether rail is an attractive industry for young people and agreed that not enough is being done to educate the new generation about career opportunities in the sector.

The panel found that young people could only identify jobs such as conductor, ticket inspector and train driver and were unaware of many other jobs in this industry.

They also worried that the rail industry would receive too much bad press due to an overabundance of negative stories about rail strikes, ticket prices and fines.

One gets the impression that the railway is an expensive industry struggling with a lack of investment.

Bonnie Price went on to say that many young people want to make a difference in their community and that the rail industry should appeal to this when boasting about their careers.

As Elaine Clark (Rail Forum Chief Executive) mentioned in a later speech on making railways sustainable, rail is an economic enabler – it has social value.

It provides good jobs for low-income workers and is undoubtedly a vital part of the country’s infrastructure to move workers from point A to point B.

More internships and mentoring needed in the rail industry

The panel was asked for closing statements, and the majority called for even more mentoring and apprenticeships.

As Neil Robertson (Chief Executive Officer, NSAR) said: “Apprenticeships are a well-established career path. Young people see the benefits in them. They like the hands-on way of learning.”

Elaine Clark focused on optics and the importance of giving young people a positive experience in the industry.

She highlighted that Rail Forum had taken a young person with them to the event to take photos and that if this photographer had a positive experience they could further promote rail as an industry to connect with other people her age.

Changing railway culture

The panel said it would take time to change the culture of rail.

Other talks on the programme covered funding, net zero and the upcoming elections.

There was a need for long-term planning to replace short-termism. They hoped that the future would bring clearer leadership.

There were also live shows by exhibitors, engineering workshops with young people and presentations of new fuel-saving technologies.

Rail Live is flowing again

For the third year running and with an even larger stand, the Re-flow team met with customers Beaver Bridges, Forestry Rail and Civils Ltd (FRC), Chevron Green Services, LB Foster Ltd and DWG Infraco Ltd to discuss the show and find out how the companies have improved their operations since implementing Re-flow.

Re-flow benefits rail companies by facilitating compliance. A catalog of digital forms with configurable fields, drop-down options, and enforceable completion leads to accurate data collection and solid audit trails.

Each form can be tagged with a location, time and digital signature so managers can track progress.

“We use Re-flow every day. We use it almost as an extended calendar. We manage meetings and post quotes through them. We can download live reports. This is a game-changer for us,” said Zoe Loveday, European Sales Manager at LB Foster.

The software allows office staff to track training and operational qualifications to ensure the right people are operating the equipment.

Automation can be incorporated into the program to alert staff when certifications are approaching expiration or if an employee has been scheduled for a position but does not have the required qualifications.

Current customers, from trainees to executives, also emphasize how easy the software is to use.

Lily Iris Clarke, ecologist at Chevron Green Services, said: “We found Re-flow really useful. It has everything in one place. There aren’t many different things we have to fill out. So it’s really user-friendly.”

If you want to know where Re-flow intends to go next, check out the full roadmap here.

Learn more about Re-flow’s award-winning site management software.