The Railway Station Manager: Duty Management, People Leadership and Operational Excellence

Running a railway station is ultimately about much more than running trains. It is about leading people, controlling risk and making good decisions when circumstances are rarely perfect.

The Railway Station Manager: Duty Management, People Leadership and Operational Excellence is a practical management guide for those already leading railway stations - and those preparing to take the next step into railway management.

Robert Porter brings together the operational and human sides of station leadership: taking and handing over duty, managing shifts and on-call responsibilities, establishing authority and accountability, supporting staff, dealing with difficult conversations, responding to incidents, managing stakeholders, developing a positive safety culture and maintaining effective leadership when pressure increases.

Throughout the book, practical management exercises encourage readers to consider the situation, its effect on people, safety and service, the applicable standards and authority, the decision required, ownership and follow-up. The manuscript describes good management practice as being sufficiently specific to act upon, fair enough to explain and properly recorded for handover or scrutiny.

The result is not a rule book and does not attempt to replace company procedures. It is a professional companion designed to develop the judgement, discipline and leadership behaviours required of modern railway managers.

Lead. Control. Communicate. Support. Improve.