The RailStaff Awards 2024

Nominations for Rail Manager of the Year

Laura Main

Said the following about Jody Bidnell:

“Jody Bidnell is a mobile operations manager (MOM), who has been nominated for being an outstanding manager whilst being seconded to a local operations manager (LOM) role at Cambridge.

Cambridge powered signal box has seen a lot of significant change whilst Jody was seconded into the Cambridge local operations manager role for around months 9, from mid 2017 to around mid 2018. This was a relatively new role to him, which Jody had to manage through several higher management changes as well, including the starting of a new Operations Manager (his new line manager) and the outgoing of the current one (who was also only seconded into this role before he left). From an operational perspective, throughout his tenure as LOM, Jody oversaw the successful integration of the new Cambridge CCTV workstation, including the hiring of its staff, working closely with the project team responsible. He also saw the successful splitting of Cambridge Panel B (station panel) to the main station and station north (B-B) panel as a pair. Additionally, he also saw the successful adoption of the 12-hour roster at Cambridge. These were three big changes at Cambridge signal box, all whilst dealing with the huge problems associated with the May 2018 timetable changes and carrying out his LOM duties as well.

Even when Jody had a bad start to the year by losing a very close family member, he carried on like a trooper and made sure his whole team of signallers and moms were looked after. During the ‘beast from the east’ he made sure staff who lived a fair distance away were given the options of a hotel stay for their safety and the good of the company.

Jody has always gone above and beyond the call of duty for his job. He is often a one-man band holding together our route in times of desperate staff shortages, poor morale, and infrastructure projects. He puts in more hours than anyone else, sacrificing days off to fill in for short notice for power box signallers, outer box signallers, Ely or Cambridge mobile operations manager, and manned crossings and meetings for projects. He is always on hand whenever there is a problem; he truly is a problem solver at heart.

He is an exceptional team player and is well liked and respected by everyone who knows him, as well as being a great leader and a great role model for anyone wanting to start on the railway. Even since going back to his substantive role as mobile operations manager, Jody has gone above and beyond the call of duty to cover shifts on the operations floor, cover the LOM role, act as a briefer, a mediator for on-going issues, and above all, a person who is approachable who all staff can come to with a problem.“

Andrew Peck

Said the following about Jody Bidnell:

“Jody was my manager at Cambridge PSB for roughly a year and a half, as I transferred off the Network Rail graduate scheme to become a signaller at Cambridge Powered Signal Box. He gave me the motivation, encouragement and his full support regarding any issues, problems or queries I had and enabled me to learn at my full potential. What makes Jody such an excellent manager is that he would go out of his way to make sure his staff were always well looked after; always catering to their needs above his. This I know, is a fact many others of his staff and colleagues would agree to without a shadow of a doubt. He is respected by everyone who has met him and even those who only know him by name, as an approachable, likeable, generous, and down-to-earth manager. Despite numerous challenges that I know Jody has faced over the course of the year and a half that I knew him, he always would make time for his colleagues. These are not only qualities of a good manager, but also a fantastic leader.

I have now moved on from Cambridge, but I could not have got to where I am now without the continual support of Jody Bidnell.“