Ten minutes with...
RSSB’s top engagement manager, Marianna White
I’ve worked for the railway for over 30 years now, starting off with the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail, where I sold tickets, dispatched trains and dealt with customers. I then moved into management, as well as project delivery – including rolling stock and all the projects that go with it. Once, I even arranged a recording session for one of our drivers so that we had a real voice giving out train information. He loved it and he sounded great.
I also held a number of roles at the Department for Transport (DfT), including managing the contracts with the train operators. Working with TOCs included negotiating changes to contracts, identifying risks, managing commercial proposals, and leading passenger experience policy.
After working for several train operators and the DfT, I was looking for a new challenge. That challenge was met when a chance came to join RSSB’s engagement team. I’d already seen the industry from two sides, so this really appealed to me. I knew I could support RSSB in helping its members deliver a better, safer railway.
I use my rail experience to connect the right RSSB member to the RSSB product or service that’ll support them. That product or service can be anything from RED and Right Track to our health and wellbeing information.
I also help members keep up-to-date with industry intelligence and connect them with others working through similar issues. This gives me the opportunity to promote good practice. Members’ concerns are fed back into cross-functional discussion groups to inform thinking and help shape future products and services.
The key is to listen, and I always do, whether that be to a driver, dispatcher, senior conductor or a senior leader.
In the course of my work, I get to meet a lot of people across the industry and very often patterns will emerge. I’ve been able to highlight mental health issues and trespass campaigns across the industry. Sometimes I can spot pockets of risk that might have been hidden. That’s how we ended up with the article on road vehicle loading in Right Track 45 (www.rssb.co.uk/right-track). Many people had expressed a concern with lorry loads working loose in transit, so we wrote an article to help raise awareness and the reporting rate.
Yes, I played in the Essex Youth Orchestra for many years. But when an opportunity to join the railway came up, I put down my bow and started selling tickets and using a dispatch bat. My railway career has taken me from the double bass to double variable rate sanders, among other things. Like an orchestra, though, railways are all about people working together towards a common goal. So maybe I haven’t moved so far from Mozart and Beethoven after all.
We’re looking for people on the operational front line to share their insights and experience in Right Track. Email us to be our next interviewee.
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Marianna's long history on the railway led to her being interviewed for RED 65 on platform-train interface risk. Watch the trailer.
