Operations Control & Management Systems
Over the next 15 years the Operating Strategy will transform how we operate the railway. It will:
- reduce the number of signalling locations from c.800 signal boxes to 12 Rail Operating Centres (ROCs)
- bring in new Traffic Management (TM) technology, and new processes and operational roles that best utilise the new system
- migrate electrical control from 13 locations into eight of the ROCs and introduce a standardised national Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) based system.
Operations Control & Management Systems
Increasing levels of demand are being placed on our infrastructure; at the same time, we are facing increasingly tough targets for train performance and financial efficiency. The Operating Strategy will see us:
- reduce our frontline operations workforce from 5,600 to potentially fewer than 1,500 and deliver significant savings in operating costs (£250 million pa when fully implemented)
- deploy leading technology which helps our people reduce delays and quickly recover services after disruption
- introduce a single operational information system to provide real-time information to passenger and freight customers, particularly during times of disruption
- establish a new national SCADA system for electrical control, replacing 16 separate and aging systems with one modern system and a consistent approach to its operation.
The success of these technological changes requires us to change our frontline roles and processes and develop our people with new skills and competencies in order to get the best out of the new systems – significant organisational challenges in their own right.
Operations Control & Management Systems
We have considerable experience in a number of different areas, including:
- business case development – using UK best practice to create detailed business cases for strategic projects, in a clear, articulate and compelling manner
- supplier engagement – looking at the best systems in the world and how they have been delivered, developing rigorous selection processes and entering into successful collaborative relationships
- project management – employing a structured approach for
- the development, design and implementation of our new operating centre buildings and associated signalling and control systems technology
- benefits realisation – identifying and tracking improvements across the network as the strategy progresses
- business change – applying proven programme management methods to integrate organisational and infrastructure change activities
- benchmarking of other administrations – assessing our Operating Strategy against relevant international programmes.