âAfter the highlights of the Terriers and the Platinum Jubilee weekend, reality has set in. The best word to describe the season so far has been âchallengingâ and I make no apology for returning to this theme.
Itâs clear that we are in unprecedentedly difficult times, and that no let-up is in view. In hindsight, Covid was simple. What we are now facing is open-ended, unpredictable, and increasing. Itâs not just us â on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Mw2WfEMZmKkÂ ï»żthere is a piece by the Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railwaysâ General Manager in which he describes the situation they are facing and what they are doing about it. If you watch the clip, you will see that his diagnosis and prescription are very similar to ours. Only Railways that can respond quickly and flexibly are going to survive. Doing things as we have been used to simply isnât an option.
As everyone will be aware by now, we must get better at matching supply and demand. There are good reasons for this: one (by no means the only one) is that the price of coal is already well above our most pessimistic assumptions. If we canât attract more visitors, we must provide fewer seats.
To do the former we are developing some new products, and we are advertising again for a Sales and Marketing Manager to review our current approach at a strategic level and provide the necessary impetus for change, building on the great work the team are already doing. We hope we will be successful this time, but we are of course in a very competitive employment market.
To do the latter, in the short term itâs the necessary timetable and calendar changes to ensure that we run trains when, and only when, people want to travel. I am all too aware that these are not popular with some of our volunteers, but I can assure you that our managers are doing everything they can to finalise changes as early as possible and to communicate them immediately to roster clerks and everyone who needs to know. Many factors go into making decisions on what trains to run, and at what length; with every week that passes the team is getting more information to guide choices, but it will always be an art as much as a science. Please be patient; our managers are doing the best they can, and they need supporting. They are always open to constructive suggestions and feedback.
For the longer term we are already thinking about the 2023 offer. We are starting with a blank page; it may be, for example, that it would make more sense to plan our services around the locomotives and stock we actually have available to us rather than start from the trains we think we ought to run â or have run in the past â and plan our requirements (and spend money) accordingly. In other words, cutting our coat according to our cloth. We must also acknowledge that every year, despite the best of intentions at the beginning, we run hot, and it becomes a struggle to deliver what we have planned. Itâs down to the dedication of many people that we do, but there must be a better way of doing things.
Talking of hot, I am typing this on the hottest day ever in the UK. Moreover, the weather has been very dry and looks like continuing so. All this has an obvious impact, on our people, on our infrastructure and equipment, on the willingness of our customers to visit us, and on what we need to do to minimise the fire risk. We must act responsibly and be seen to do so. Many people, not least on the Pullman, have worked hard in almost impossible conditions, and we owe them our thanks.
Covid continues to take its toll. Many of our staff, paid and unpaid, have gone down in recent weeks and this has had an effect on overhauls, maintenance and operations.
The list goes on.
Trustees, ably assisted by Mark Stutchbury, are currently focused on management issues. Our General Manager Shaun Dewey has now left, and on an explicitly temporary basis individual trustees have assumed responsibility for guiding and supporting the managers in the execution of their functions. We are also implementing new arrangements for objective-setting and ensuring everyone is aligned in the best interests of the Railway. And we are professionalising our Human Resources function. We believe that what we are doing will provide the essential underpinning as we deal with all the challenges.
The process for finding a new General Manager continues and may indeed be complete by the end of July.
Peter Blythe, our Carriage & Wagon manager, has decided to leave us, and we are currently advertising for a successor. We are grateful to Peter for what he has done, and he will always be regarded as a member of the Kent and East Sussex family.
And finally on people, I need to say that, sadly, John Liddell, a very longstanding volunteer, died recently at the age of 95. His funeral will be at Charing Crematorium at 2.30pm on 16 August. There is a short appreciation elsewhere in this issue.
But to return to my main theme. For all kinds of reasons this will continue to be a challenging year, and the challenges arenât over yet. A crystal ball would be useful, and so would a magic wand. In their absence there are difficult times ahead, for us and for other heritage railways across the country. The key to our survival will be our ability to be aware, agile, and adaptable: aware of the environments in which we operate; agile enough to be able to respond quickly; and adaptable with our practices and behaviours to accommodate and even embrace change.
If we support each other within the Railway family, we can overcome these challenges.
Simon Marsh
Chairman
