Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance - ppiaf

Railway Reform: Toolkit for Improving Rail Sector Performance
5. Creating the Industry Structure
Dealing with the issue of social services remains a key first step in the process of
streamlining railways to meet market competition. Most railways in developed
countries, in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European transition countries,
and in China, have successfully withdrawn from providing many social services.
Railways that retain a significant range of social activities, but seek to lessen their
burden, should consult Figure 5.3 for a basic division into three types: (i) can be
transferred to more appropriate public providers such as central or local government
departments; (ii) can be sold or transferred to a private provider; (iii) cannot
be readily transferred to a more appropriate provider, and supply important
benefits to maintain staff morale.
Key tools, or business processes, to handle these three categories appear in Figure
5.3. (Occupational health and safety functions are carved out of these categories
and treated as a business support service).
Experience suggests that most social and recreational activities can be restructured
within such a framework. Activities must be discontinued if they fail to
demonstrate significant value to staff morale and productivity, and cannot be
transferred to a more appropriate provider, using fair procedures to deal with any
retraining or redundancy.
However, adjusting long-established worker benefits requires utmost caution and
respect, because employee resentment can easily spill over and impair other aspects
of railway reform. For this reason, the proposed process includes the highest
requirement for staff communication and consultation. Ultimately, if some
employee benefits are cost-effective, not easily transferred to a more suitable
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