Can Network Rail cope with maintenance?

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has expressed its concern over Network Rail's (NR) decision to take maintenance contracts in-house, writes Ross Pearman.
Although supportive in principle of the rail operator's move to strip maintenance contractors of their agreements, ATOC said it had "real concerns" over its implementation.
"This is a huge move and there are concerns over whether Network Rail can have both the processes and management resources in place to make it work," said an ATOC spokesman.
"The decision to bring the contracts in-house was the right thing to do in helping provide a cheaper and more reliable service. However, we don't want black holes appearing from a lack of planning by the rail operator."
The spokesman also told CJ that it had been left in the dark over how the rail operator would be timetabling all the contracts coming back in-house.
"No future meetings have been made with Network Rail. We just have to let it get on with it," he added.
Asked how much train operating companies would benefit from the contracts being brought in-house, the spokesman said there was "no figure available", but added that substantial gains should be made from a reduction in train delays due to unreliable maintenance work.