WHY ASK THAT QUESTION?
In early 2023, the PWI sought members’ and other stakeholders’ views on how the Institution should continue to develop through the next five-year strategic plan from 2024 to 2028, and beyond. One of the questions posed was whether the PWI’s name is well-aligned with its mission to serve those working within the broadest range of railway infrastructure engineering disciplines. A significant majority of the responses to this consultation question favoured changing the Institution’s name. The purpose of any such change is to emphasise the Institution’s focus on all aspects of railway infrastructure engineering, and to convey this very clearly to current and potential members, and to others within the railway industry.
The PWI Board considered this feedback as it refined its goals and objectives for the 2024 to 2028 strategy. After much careful thought and discussion, the Board has concluded that the case for a name change is compelling and that the new name must better reflect both the Institution’s current coverage of railway technical disciplines and its aspiration to cover a broader scope of such fields. Whilst the Board recognises the reputation, pedigree and value associated with the PWI name and brand, it is convinced that changing the Institution’s name is central to the Institution’s future relevance and continued success.
WHAT MESSAGES SHOULD OUR NAME CONVEY?
The PWI is and will remain committed to the railway sector and will continue to welcome all who work within or have an interest in railway engineering. The Institution’s 2019 success in becoming a fully-fledged Professional Engineering Institution (PEI) licensed by the UK Engineering Council has enabled us to promote and deliver the benefits of professionally registered status to our members. Additionally, our technical output including Section meetings, Journals, seminars, thought leadership and education programmes remains relevant to all members and many potential members.
Whilst initially founded in 1884 as the Institution of Permanent Way Inspectors, The Permanent Way Institution name was adopted in 1895 to make it clear (using the language of the time) “that all railwaymen in the Engineering Department should be admitted”. In recent years we have tried to explain that the origins of our name are rooted in the full scope of railway infrastructure, effectively everything between the fence-lines. But a modern interpretation of permanent way often equates it solely to track, to the perceived exclusion of other fixed assets including earthworks, drainage, and electrification: this has undoubtedly meant that many working in non-track disciplines struggle to see how the Institution is relevant to them, despite the multi-disciplinary content of our education programmes, seminars, and Journals.
Even more tellingly, a modern engineering view of the railway as a “system of systems” means that a good understanding of railway infrastructure and its behaviour can only be achieved with an appreciation of interfacing assets and systems. A wheel-rail interface can only be managed if the characteristics of both the infrastructure and the rolling stock are understood; similarly for the catenary-pantograph interface. And any optimised railway asset maintenance regime requires an appreciation of data engineering: data sources, how data is obtained and managed, and how it can be combined and used to model and predict asset behaviour, particularly in response to changing circumstances.
It is perhaps of little surprise that the root causes of many railway performance and safety incidents lie not within the scope of one asset discipline but at the interfaces between them, and between engineering and railway operations. Most recently, the tragic derailment at Carmont highlights the critical interaction between drainage, earthworks, track and structures. Looking back to 2007 and 2002, unanticipated and poorly understood forces at the interface between track and points operating machinery led to high-speed fatal derailments at Grayrigg and Potters Bar. And although the primary cause of the 2000 derailment at Hatfield was catastrophic failure of track components, in reality its root causes can be traced to a lack of understanding of the impact of modern vehicle suspension systems on forces at the wheel-rail interface and on consequent material fatigue.
As railway engineering disciplines have tended to become more specialised it becomes even more important that those working within them understand not just their own discipline but also have a clear appreciation of the way their assets interact with those of other disciplines, and of the potential for unanticipated or unintended risk exposure. During our member consultation in early 2023, some experienced Institution members expressed the view that siloed engineering thinking is the enemy of safety and performance, and that one of our Institution’s primary objectives should be the facilitation of cross-disciplinary learning and understanding with safety and risk management at the core of what we do.
The Institution is determined to maintain its hard-won status as a fully-fledged Professional Engineering Institution. The Institution remains committed to the railway engineering sector with a clear focus on cross-disciplinary learning and understanding. It also intends to retain its open status, welcoming engineers, technicians, and all who work within or have an interest in railway engineering: we are for engineering, and by no means exclusively for engineers.
Having listened to members’ views and thought carefully about the future of the Institution, the Board thus proposes that the Permanent Way Institution carries its 140 years of railway knowledge and experience into a new era as the Institution for Railway Engineering.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The PWI name has served well, and many will feel understandable regret at its loss. The Board is keen to understand members views on its proposal to adopt the name the Institution for Railway Engineering. If you wish to offer a view on the proposal, positive, neutral, or negative, please email marketing@thepwi.org on or before Friday 2 February 2024.
WHAT NEXT?
Members’ feedback regarding the proposed changes is incredibly important to us. With the Board, I strongly believe that there’s a compelling rationale for the proposed change. However, we want to take account of all your comments and views. Name change is only one element of the strategic journey the Institution is embarking on, and your input will greatly help us as we proceed through what promises to be a momentous five years. We want that journey to be collective and believe it’s essential that any changes are made in the full light of representations from our members. I very much look forward to hearing your views.
The Board will return to consider its naming proposal together with members’ views at its meeting in February 2024. A decision on how to proceed will be taken at that meeting and advised in the April 2024 Journal and Newsletter.