Paul Smart

Said the following about Tim Shakerley - **HAS LEFT**:

“Tim Shakerley’s contribution to the rail industry over the last 20+ years has been outstanding – not only in his chosen field of Engineering, but in delivering unprecedented safety improvements for Freightliner, playing a pivotal role in procuring investment for significant rail freight infrastructure projects and driving improved rail freight capacity on the network, to name but a few.

Following his graduation with a first class degree in Mechanical Engineering and a ‘Best in Class’ award, Tim joined British Rail in Canton where he worked on Class 158 passenger units. He then moved to Angel Trains and took the position of Account Engineer with responsibility for the on-going development of the Class 465 networker trains before joining Freightliner in 1999 as one of the last consignments of British Rail sponsored management trainees.

In his 18 year career with Freightliner, Tim’s achievements have been many:

• He has led unparalleled safety improvements, significantly reducing lost-time injuries whilst championing and promoting a change in safety culture that the workforce in all areas of the business in the UK, Europe and the Middle East are engaged in and committed to.

Since Freightliner’s acquisition by Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) in March 2015, Tim was challenged with moving our already industry-leading safety performance to the next level – ‘Zero Injuries’.

His efforts culminated in Freightliner UK/Europe Region being awarded G&W President’s Safety Award for ‘Most improved safety performance amongst G&W operating regions’ for achieving the largest reduction in lost time injuries of any G&W operating region with 63% fewer injuries in 2016 than in 2015.

In addition, 32 sites across the UK remained injury-free in 2016, representing an impressive 1.9 million man-hours worked, injury-free.

Other accolades include:

- Workforce Safety finalist at the UK Rail Industry Awards 2016

- Freightliner Road Services awarded ‘Company Driver Safety award’ at the 2016 Brake Fleet Safety Awards.

- Freightliner Safety film – ‘I could have saved a life today’ featuring frontline colleagues – used extensively as part of safety training throughout G&W, and winner of a prestigious EVCOM Screen Award at BAFTA in the Health and Safety category.

Paul McMahon, MD, Freight & National Passenger Operations, Network Rail said:

“I strongly support Tim Shakerley’s nomination. Over the last few years we have worked increasingly closely and productively with Freightliner on safety issues – and this is testament to Tim’s collaborative and professional approach and experience. In particular, Tim has led important work with us to develop a process to report Freightliner staff lost time injuries and hazards on Network Rail’s infrastructure, which Freightliner staff have a significant interaction with on a daily basis. We have subsequently rolled this process out to other FOCs and it is included on the Freight & National Passenger Operators Scorecards in 2017/18.”

Geoff Spencer, Rail Safety & Standards Board (RSSB) Non-Executive Director (Freight) said:

“Leading Health and Safety on Britain's Railway is the industry endorsed strategy to facilitate work to achieve continuous improvement in the health and safety performance of the railways in Great Britain, and Tim’s contribution in delivering this should be commended. His passion for driving workforce safety improvements at Freightliner has delivered significant positive results and I am confident that Tim will continue to raise standards even further.”

• Tim was instrumental in setting up Freightliner’s Middle East Operation following a successful bid as part of a British Consortium, to provide technical assistance, Interim management and training to the Saudi Railway Company (SAR) in the development and operation of the North South Railway, one of the largest railway projects in the world.

With Tim’s continued assistance, Freightliner Middle East has prospered, and has played a key role in transferring the skills, knowledge and experience required by SAR to build a safe, efficient freight service in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He has also provided on-going engineering support and guidance to Freightliner’s operations in Continental Europe.

• Tim has led key investment cases for Freightliner, including the development and construction of a new purpose-built Electric Locomotive Maintenance Depot in Crewe, one of the first CAPEX projects to be approved by G&W. This was followed by further investment in a new wagon overhaul facility at Guide Bridge in Manchester. Both facilities have enabled Freightliner to take control of their maintenance requirements and retain the value within the Group.

Other significant infrastructure investments championed and led by Tim include re-craning three Freightliner terminals in Birmingham, Manchester and Southampton.

• Tim was responsible for introducing Class 70 locomotives into the UK, capable of hauling heavier and longer trains, thereby improving rail freight capacity on the UK rail network.

• Tim has been at the forefront of a number of environmental improvements including fuel efficiency and emissions compliance and is also a driving force behind freight’s input into the European Railway Traffic Management Scheme (ERTMS) which will ultimately lead to further environmental gains as ERTMS helps to increase rail capacity without huge construction projects.

Tim is more than happy to share his extensive experience and knowledge with management and fellow colleagues by inspiring and nurturing talent both within Freightliner, including Europe and the Middle East, and for the good of the wider rail industry as a mentor at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, guiding young engineers towards chartered status.

Tim has been an integral part of the development and success of Freightliner since privatisation, and his career continues to flourish under the auspices of G&W and his wider responsibilities as European Engineering Director.

All of the above clearly demonstrates Tim’s unwavering commitment and dedication to the rail industry over the last 20+ years – a very worthy nominee for RailStaff’s Lifetime Achievement Award“