Kiwi making sweeping changes to N.S.W. railways

Press, 15 February 1989, Page 50

Kiwi making sweeping changes to N.S.W. railways

By

JOHN CALLEN

NZPA Sydney The former New Zealand Railways chief executive, Ross Sayers, has introduced the most sweeping changes to Sydney’s commuter train services since trains started running in the city 134 years ago. Mr Sayers, appointed New South Wales State Rail Authority chief executive in October, has revamped the organisation’s management structure and appointed seven new line managers.

Photographs and telephone numbers of the managers will be displayed in every railway station under their control as part of an S.R.A. attempt to get itself a new image. The line managers will be responsible for everything from schedules and safety to cleanliness and customer relations on their lines. “What we are doing is

changing the faceless bureaucracy image to a user-friendly, customerdriven organisation,” Mr Sayers said.

the move, modelled on the London Underground’s system, would scrap many highly paid jobs and help to cut the levels of management in the S.R.A. from 15 to six, Mr Sayers said.

The N.S.W. Premier, Nick Greiner, hand picked Mr Sayers last year to stem the S.R.A;’s gushing financial haemorrhage while maintaining efficient services. As the N.Z.R. chief executive, Mr Sayers reduced annual losses and achieved big staff cuts without industrial disputes. Sydney's commuter trains, which carry 800,000 people a day, lose sAust3 million a day ($4.3 million) which adds to the S.R.A.’s debt of sAust6.s billion.

One of Mr Sayers’ objectives is to cut the S.R.A.’s present staff of

36,000 by 10,000 in the next three years. The N.S.W. Government wants the S.R.A. workforce trimmed by 2500 this year alone and an independent audit has warned that up to 18,000 jobs might have to go. In his drive for efficiency, Mr Sayers has engaged the international transport consultants, Booz Allen and Hamilton, for more than SAustl million to advise on ways of cutting costs and improving revenue and services.

To combat violence and vandalism Mr Sayers will install security booths, known as Help Points, at selected stations.

The booths, staffed 24 hours-a-day, will contain video monitors so staff can scan platforms for signs of trouble. “The public will be invited to come forward with suggestions to make services . better,” Mr Sayers said.

“And if they come forward with heated criticism which is deserved, we will have to learn to do it better,” he said. Mr Sayers’ two predecessors at the helm of the S.R.A. tried unsuccessfully to trim the workforce and cut losses, but claim they were thwarted by political interference.

As the highest paid public servant in N.S.W., Mr Sayers has already made a positive impact on the S.R.A. with his determination to achieve change and willingness to involve unions in decisionmaking.