LEADERSHIP LETHARGY, OR HOW NOT TO GROW THE BUSINESS - WEST AUSTRALIAN RAIL

[railways@swannet.com.au]

An interesting writing.

Very recently, railroading [problem: there’s no verb for "railway"] in
Australia was immutably characterised by stultifying government
interference and inevitable management lethargy.   In our part of the
world, just how this state of affairs can be changed has been
graphically illustrated in New Zealand, but at home railway management
continues to struggle to truly grasp the need for and to give some
effect to the concept of entrepreneurial leadership.

National Rail Corporation (NRC) stands out as having made some true
systemic change in how a rail company/operation might be managed,
however even they continue to suffer from being a series of small
State railway outposts, each with key people caught in the vortex of
prejudice and parochialism unique to the cultures of their erstwhile
government organisations, and still exhibiting that stoic, plodding
management style so reminiscent of the good old government railways.
(On a recent Channel 9 program even MD Vince Graham proved he’s really
an old-fashioned public servant at heart when a competitor revealed
that NRC had refused to free up some of a large collection of spare
container flat wagons.   The non-revenue earning rolling stock could
have been the subject of a profitable leasing agreement with the
competitor but no, Mr Graham decided that making the wagons available
would be tantamount to helping the opposition!).   More heavy trucks
roll on the public highways.

Let’s acknowledge the part that good old political interference may
still play here (eg. NRC has to be presented in as good a light as
possible for private sale) but it is still an important role for
railway management to manage this sort of interference as well.

Other systems - Queensland Rail (QR) and Westrail being cases in point
- rely on their captive bulk mineral traffics to proudly provide
indicators of commercial success.   QR, though, is noteworthy for its
provision of a successful industry consultancy service as well as its
demonstrated commitment to modern passenger services.   (Thank
goodness for the coal haulage profits).

Westrail is another story.   It’s mission statement loftily proclaims
that its ".,,business purpose is to provide innovative transport
solutions which meet our customers’ requirements".   (All ten of
them!).   There are equally grandiose and meaningless Vision and
Values statements - none of which make any mention of a responsibility
to create and operate a vibrant, vital industry for the greater
benefit of tax-payers in this State and perhaps even for Australians
in general.

Over in Kiwiland, Tranz Rail operates long distance passenger services
whose patronage is growing.   They have created and offer something
that people want.   Their managers aggressively pursue new traffic and
they’ll design and build special rolling stock for the client if
that’s what it takes.   Long distance bulk haulage of milk has just
started (the motive power was imported, pre-loved, from Queensland).
Look out for the line haul bulk railing of garbage to be disposed of
in a converted ex-coal-fired power station.   Coming soon.

By comparison, Westrail proudly runs unit trains of bulk traffics that
cannot be economically transported any other way and grudgingly
operates passenger services only because of political prodding.

The question deserves to be asked..."How many smarts does it take to
sell a service to a captive client?"   It’s much more difficult, of
course, to be entrepreneurial, to actively seek out new traffic and
connect clients to the railway.   Much harder work too....!

So how do railways build the business?   Regrettably, the answer - in
Western Australia at least - is, they don’t.   They drop everything
that’s a headache and concentrate on the easy stuff (then sell
themselves as being ‘highly committed’, ‘commercially-focused’ and
even (Ye Gods!) ‘innovative’.

Westrail does not seem to operate to any charter which requires it to
maximise its efforts on behalf of all West Australians.   Long
distance rail passenger services have been allowed to run down for
decades and nowadays it’s all too hard for an organisation lacking
marketing flair to bother with.   Golden opportunities go begging -
much to the glee of the Hotham Valley Tourist Railway.

A few years ago, significant entrepreneurial flair was evident in
Westrail’s passenger services division (albeit much of it focussed on
their road coach operations) but people moved on and that initiative
does not seem to have been sustained.   Unit freight trains are all
they seem to be interested in these days.   The railways’ visible,
public presence has been allowed to become worn and dowdy too!

Anyone familiar with the Perth industrial areas of Canning Vale,
Kewdale and Welshpool will be aware that they were originally
penetrated by kilometres of railway sidings.   Now, as one drives
around these areas, the rail presence is characterised by incongruous
railway crossing signs planted alongside streets, rusty rails curving
out of sight around uncaring buildings, overgrown, rail-less
rights-of-way leading up to truncated track panels embedded suddenly
in the road, and soulless boom-gate assemblies standing to useless,
mute attention.   So complete is Westrail’s basic inability to manage
its existence that even these long-unused pieces of infrastructure
have not been removed for re-use elsewhere.   They continue to stand,
stupidly, in their no-man’s-land.

What happened to someone’s’ grand vision of streets of factories and
warehouses all within easy reach of rail service?   How could this
trackage have been provided and then been permitted to be ignored by
industry?   Where was Westrail’s sales force as these industrial areas
were being built upon?

Elsewhere within the Perth metro area one can view further sad
examples of the railways’ inability to plan and build the business.
North of the Swan River, near Fremantle, the Leighton marshalling
yards stand desolately against the Indian Ocean, guarded only by a
vandalised yardmaster’s office and a redundant lighting tower.
Alongside Perth’s airport, the capacious Forrestfield marshalling yard
complex is also overgrown and ghostlike - long rakes of pensioned-off
rolling stock stand on some tracks - others have been torn up.
Nowadays most activity hereabouts issues from the locomotive
maintenance shop where contractors service road power and where Clyde
Engineering is busily assembling the "Q" Class locomotives (and not a
moment too soon!).

What the foregoing serves to illustrate is the demise of Westrail as a
vibrant, 20th-century transport industry operating to its full
potential for the benefit of more West Australians than it now does.
What it further illustrates are the results of extremely ordinary
railway management;  an executive demonstrably bereft of creative
ability and railway operational flair.   The promises of "Right Track"
lie unfulfilled.

And as Rome burns, what is Commissioner Drabble doing?   Why folks,
he has an expensive team in NSW developing a bid for Westrail to
operate Hunter Valley coal trains (again, unit trains serving captive
clients).   How will Western Australia benefit from this?

For mercy’s sake, let these primadonna’s return to Western Australia
and be set to work building the business here.   (Or better still,
leave them there and hire some creative non-railway people in Western
Australia).

A final comment.   Certain union managements might well have a quiet
think about some of these issues too.

NEWSFLASH
Commissioner Drabble is no longer to ‘lead" Westrail.   He is to move
(being moved?) to - wait for it - Main Roads!!   Can it be that
transport minister Charlton has finally noticed the bleeding obvious?

LATE NEWFLASH
US shortline railroad organisation Genesee and Wyoming Inc has secured
AN’s SA freight operation.   G&W is known in the ‘States for its
ability to take the traffics the ‘biggies’ don’t want, and to develop
them to profitability.   A thousand welcomes, G&W.   The lucky country
needs you!

The Australasian leaders in railway management - Tranz Rail/Wisconsin
Central - have ridden up in the nick of time too!   Get stuck in
fellas.   Tassie has undoubted rail potential.

The excitement is almost too much!