Case Studies

Transport Consultancy Case Study

Phase 3 standards recovery project

When the railway industry was part of the public sector, each engineering discipline had over many years developed its own specifications and standards. These were detailed and prescriptive since railway products were procured directly by the industry. Upon privatization of the main line railways, and with the advent of Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) on London Underground, a radical change was needed for industry standards to fit the new forms of contract put in place.

London Underground had a particular problem with the PPP contracts in that these set levels of performance, based on service levels for the day to day running of the system, and on "capability" for improvement works. This contractual approach required an entirely new suite of engineering standards which were output-based.

London Underground appointed a range of specialist suppliers to tackle this huge project, and Fifth Dimension Associates Ltd. (FDAL) was selected to re-write the mechanical & electrical services standards. The specialist knowledge and experience of the FDAL team enabled them to produce a set of documents which fulfilled the LU brief and embraced up-to-date best industry practice.

This work was business critical to LU since not only did the standards have to support their Safety Case, but they could not conflict with the PPP contracts by placing any new requirements. The works were completed to programme and under budget, the activities including facilitating workshops for each standard with the PPP and PFI contractors. FDAL also completed the necessary safety change documentation to meet the LU assurance process.

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