Among other services, VolkerRail's plant division supply, maintain and operate a fleet of 11 On-Track Machines (OTMs), which tamp track and regulate ballast across the UK on Network Rail's infrastructure. VolkerRail was awarded the OTM Contract in 2011 which provides Network Rail with nine S&C mainline tampers, two Matisa R24s ballast regulators and a full supporting team of staff.

VolkerRail's drivers/maintainers/operators, who are considered some of the best in the country, have undergone an extensive and arduous training programme to ensure safe and efficient delivery of operations in excess of 99% reliability. While all suppliers in this specialist market regularly deliver a high value service to an excellent standard, this award recognises the fact that VolkerRail consistently stand out from the crowd on key performance measures.

Mark Jackson, general manager for VolkerRail's plant division, said: "We are pleased to receive this award as it recognises the exceptional work our whole team put in, to operate safely, keep our machines reliable and exceed our customer's performance requirements.

"It would have been more difficult for VolkerRail to attain and maintain this commendable performance level without the collaborative approach we share in the OTM Reliability Improvement Group and the OTM SSWG, chaired by Network Rail."

OTM Reliability Improvement Group and the OTM SSWG

These groups, actively chaired by the business manager from Network Rail's NSC division, enable VolkerRail and peer group suppliers to discuss practical, yet often quite innovative, ways in which to improve the health and safety of OTM teams and share data and solutions to help make all our machines more reliable. The best practice shared through these groups has been an important factor in enabling Network Rail's core OTM suppliers, and VolkerRail in particular, to perform so impressively.