NR NR/L3/OPS/0064 ISSUE 6 PDF

Except as specified below in this clause, this document applies to all projects and their contractors executing work on the national rail network where works are disruptive to the operational railway, at worksite level within a possession.

This includes:

a) every midweek, weekend and peak period worksite every week of the year;

b) any area of the business involved with the effective delivery of project work on the rail infrastructure;

c) all possessions and worksites booked in the Possession Planning System (PPS), aligned to and visible in, the DWWP system (reference 1), including late submissions;

d) third party work as delivered by external organisations (e.g. Transport for London) and/or any work assured by regional Asset Protection (ASPRO) teams;

e) Network Rail specialist delivery teams, i.e. non-OPEX teams where they are working for regional Capital Delivery teams, e.g. OCR team Route Services;

f) all works being delivered on behalf of Capital Delivery teams; and

g) Works Delivery teams when the specific work type to be carried out in a possession is not listed in the locally produced Sift Matrix template, as specified in NR/L3/MTC/MG0210. Examples of work that might need to comply with this standard are high complexity tasks, activities with restricted access windows or works that need complex critical plant such as full S&C renewals and structures renewals.

Where the project has a signal works testing element NR/L3/SIG/0077 should be consulted in conjunction with this document.

NOTE: NR/L3/SIG/0077 provides Network Rail with a framework to manage and reduce the risks associated with signalling pre-commissioning testing activities on projects. It assesses readiness for commissioning by planning for an appropriate level of assurance to be undertaken at key points in advance of commissioning.

This standard does not apply to:

a) works delivered by regional Maintenance teams and/or Works Delivery teams where the scope of works are managed through adherence to NR/L3/MTC/MG0210 unless the route representative who has operational accountability for the performance of the route affected agrees with the Infrastructure Maintenance Delivery Manager (IMDM) or the programme manager decides that the complexity of the work merits use of NR/L3/OPS/0064; and

b) emergency works e.g. Post WON publication.

Purpose

Network Rail is fully committed to reducing the number of possession overruns and their impact on both the travelling public and operational railway. The processes and controls contained within this document are key to achieving this.

This document provides Network Rail with the operational readiness framework aimed at reducing and mitigating the risk of possession overruns for projects delivering works on the rail infrastructure. It enables Network Rail to maximise productive use of possession time whilst balancing the risks associated with this objective.

Benefits associated with the process are:

a) it provides Network Rail’s project managers with a consistent and standard operational readiness framework to minimise the risk of possession overruns;

b) an industry ‘best practice’ procedure which is continually being developed and enhanced to take account of best practices and learned lessons;

c) it provides assurance to both internal and external stakeholders;

d) the existence of dedicated teams at local, regional and national level to oversee the development of the processes, systems and capabilities required; and

e) it provides a national review framework for all of Network Rail’s support and delivery teams to identify and manage risks, issues and constraints.

Risks of non-compliance associated with the DWWP process are:

a) Network Rail is unable to mitigate the risk profile of possession overruns for any works which are non-compliant;

b) resource demand is not clearly understood and/or constraints are not resolved in a timely manner which will impact planned delivery of works;

c) significant possession overruns impacting the operational railway and Network Rail’s customers;

d) a negative impact on the reputation of Network Rail and the wider rail industry; and

e) lack of confidence in Network Rail’s capability to meet its licence commitments; and uncontrolled cancellation or late re-scheduling of planned works.