Michael Gates
Rail Maintenance Specialist
I am a life-long railway professional having spent in in excess of 40 years in the industry, most of which in an infrastructure maintenance environment on heavily trafficked mainline assets. I have experienced the nationalised world of British Rail where I joined as an apprentice in the signal and telegraph department, through privatisation employed by an infrastructure maintenance company and most recently in the public sector of Network Rail. I have experienced a wide variety of roles at all levels in the rail organisation, more latterly in senior and exec leadership positions. I have taken responsibility for business unit and change management activities in a multi-disciplinary asset environment which included all aspects of safety, finance, commercial and people leadership.
Experience:
Rail Operations
The vast majority of my railway experience has been gained within the maintenance environment, where I have worked both in front line operational teams, as head of maintenance delivery units and all points in between. I have lead improvement programmes covering a wide range of activities – to improve poor asset performance, reduce employee absence, embed efficiencies and enhance workforce safety. I have taken the lead with organisational design changes, subsequent trade union consultations, followed by phased launch and post implementation reviews. Throughout my career I have successfully engaged with exec leaders within all organisations including client, supplier and regulatory bodies. I have international consultancy experience which includes a multi-disciplinary recruitment programme in Australia to enhance the size and skillset of the UK workforce and support to a rail operator in New York with entry into maintenance of a complex infrastructure project. Both were delivered through a combination of on-site and remote working. More recently, I have supported the infrastructure maintenance organisation for a Canadian rail organisation in Toronto. I focussed on the development of planning processes including work plan methodology, engaging with maintenance vendors and all appropriate client functions. Using a variety of LEAN tools, I documented current-state and created a suite of deliverables for process improvement. I also provided support to a wide range of asset management, workforce safety improvement and process refinement based on best practice experience gained in comparable organisations.
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Change, Projects & Engineering Management
In advance of a high-profile train service change, I lead ‘maintenance readiness’ to ensure the asset base was effectively maintained and where necessary, incident rectification was optimised. Activities included organisation design leading to a significant expansion of the maintenance community together with the subsequent recruitment, training and development of new recruits. An assessment of asset performance resulted in a programme of work followed by a series of equipment improvements – from wholesale replacement to enhanced maintenance. A response time study resulted in plans for additional accommodation together with provision of accommodation, tools, equipment and materials to successfully embed the changes.
I lead maintenance readiness cross-industry stakeholder communication at a senior level including with government appointed representatives.
Safety & Assurance
Safety and assurance were my two top priorities as head of the maintenance delivery units. Responsibilities included people and assets, both of which were measured using leading and lagging indicators.
Over an eight-year period, I led elements of the DC safer isolation programme and was involved with all aspects necessary for business-as-usual adoption. This included safety assessment, stakeholder communications through to implementation at delivery unit level.
I have received training and experience on a diverse range of safety leadership activities including NEBOSH general certificate, electrical control room operator, track safety and signal maintenance testing for including wrong side incident investigations.
Rail Training
Over a period of two years I developed a portfolio of training improvements for DC distribution teams. Activities included a gap analysis based on asset type ownership, engaging of informed experts to author material and installation of working equipment within the training centre environment.
I developed a strategy to upskill signalling technicians through an intensive one-year program, including training, practical hands-on experience with established mentors through assessment and competence approval. At the end of the program, delegates were anticipated to be ready for promotion to the next level.
I was a lead facilitator for an innovative British Rail program established to introduce the concept of leadership to the frontline track, signalling and electrification workforce. The program was delivered at an off-site, residential location and I was responsible for delivery of modules involving theory and practical elements of leadership behaviours.
