Wright and his team have spent the early months of this year rolling out the Pace concept to Network Rail staff and its supply chain. The purpose of PACE is to provide a project delivery framework that can be tailored by the project to the individual needs of each project. PACE has been created from Project SPEED (Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery), itself part of the governments Covid-19 recovery plan to deliver public investment projects faster and for less money. However, he cautioned against trying to speed up everything. The decision taken at each gateway will be whether or not to proceed with progressing the intervention to the next development stage, with a final gateway providing the decision to deliver. Part of the PACE ethos is empowering and delegating authority to those best placed for decision making within the project team. D; Not e Grip 3. Building on these values, the Project SPEED team has developed an approach to guide our day-to-day working, so we can all play our part in building a modern and efficient railway that we can be proud of. Overspecification is the process of building infrastructure to standards that are unnecessarily specific or risk-averse, potentially resulting in higher costs. This can be measured in trains per hour, or by seats. Ace Project Speed Briefing Rail - Association for Consultancy and . About Us Egis is a leading global consulting, construction engineering and operating firm. However, the key requirement is a change in culture. One-team Culture encouraging improved working between the DfT, Network Rail and across wider industry to embrace the SPEED mindset. It represents the local transport and local highways authorities of the West and East Midlands. Grip is a very methodical approach to project management, but a number of the [people involved in the] projects felt that by being so prescriptive in how you move through the process, it meant that they spent a lot more time and therefore a lot more money delivering projects than was necessary, explains Wright. 5. 1 0 obj Access and Possessions developing new, better-coordinated access strategies. . Over 1,000 people within Network Rail and its supply chain had so far been briefed on PACE. In particular they need to assess what is actually necessary for the risk and complexity of the work. GRIP (Governance for Railway Investment Projects) had been used as a framework for managing projects since 2000. PACE allows schemes to progress through design decision gateways aligned with the RNEP investment decision gateways. Wright says that the regions know their project portfolio and contract frameworks better than anyone else, so they are best placed to make the right decision on when to move over. Witham Fourth District Internal Drainage Board, We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. For the past 12 months, this has been considering new ways of delivering projects and trying these out on pilot schemes. [19 0 R] All those blockers have fed into the second part of Project Speed, which is focused on business change projects to remove those obstacles. According to Network rail, the aims of project SPEED are: PACE is divided up into five main stages for efficient enhancement delivery of rail infrastructure: These stages are similar to GRIP process but effort has been made to reduce the control on projects so as not to add excessively to the time estimates whilst still maintaining the rigour of the design and implementation process. It is a series of proposed rail interventions to improve rail connectivity on a West-East basis through Birmingham Moor Street station. Its been claimed that PACE will have an even greater impact than GRIP in delivering efficiency gains. Pace offers a more flexible framework that can be more tailored . GRIP replaced by PACE GRIP, which has been in use for the last 10 years, is being evolved into PACE (Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment). /Resources <> So what is PACE, and how does it differ from its predecessor? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Within Pace we are trying to create a framework with a delegated authority of decision making, We have cultivated a whole generation of people who apply it mechanically. Experience of working in the UK rail industry with good working knowledge of Network Rail GRIP / PACE process / standards and approval processes. Network Rail are replacing GRIP with PACE, a new tool that allows project managers to adapt their approach, make decisions that best meet the needs of their project and overlay stages while maintaining rigour. As part of this, challenge workshops were held to consider the scope of level crossings and track. Hybrid bills mix the characteristics of public and private bills. SKU:SP1607629 endobj Experience of working in the UK rail industry - knowledge of Network Rail GRIP / PACE process / standards and approval processes. Excellent written and oral communication skills. It gets a robust outcome but the challenge were creating with Pace is asking at the start if theres a better way of achieving the same outcome.. This allows a line to handle more traffic than a standard 2-track alignment as fast services can be separated from slower and semi-fast services. You can change your cookie settings at any time. . In this Integrated Rail Plan, proposals for electrification in the North and Midlands refers to the installation of OLE along stated routes. The time slot required to operate one train on any given line based on the characteristics of that line (such as top speed). A rail line that operates on 4 parallel tracks. By Claire Smith. Hear from Tim Walden, Transformation Director and Mike Wright, Programme Management Director of Network Rail. The production of estimates, for example, in terms of cost, in a range, producing both a low and higher estimated outcome. 17 0 obj The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is one of the UKs core rail lines, running between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh, via Peterborough, York, Doncaster, Darlington and Newcastle. Governance reviewing the process for seeking government funding, with a simplified process for projects under 10 million. This is where the needs and requirements of a project are defined. 13 0 obj SPEED is forging a path ahead for the industry to adapt and meet these challenges head on. Led by Network Rails Industry Programme Director Christian Irwin, the project moved quickly from feasibility to detailed design, enabling implementation of the works in April 202; a move from concept to construction in just 8 weeks. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. By Claire Smith. Your email address will not be published. All six programmes developed proposals to reduce timescales and cost, and then defended their proposals through peer reviews and challenge panels. It consists of 5 stages, including project initiation, development and project selection, project design, project delivery and project close. Network Rails GRIP process was developed to minimise delivery risk by dividing a project into eight distinct stages for which there was a defined set of activities which had to be completed before starting the next stage. Significant challenges to achieve deliverables of funding settlement. The challenge now is to spread and scale that best practice across other programmes and the wider network. 29 0 obj As described later, this required the development of a new project management process, PACE (Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment), addressing ten key themes and the provision of a Rail Investment Centre of Excellence to provide support and share lessons learnt. The line is currently electrified between London and Kettering/Corby, with electrification as far north as Market Harborough expected to be completed in 2024. Image taken from: New Civil Engineer 'Interview | Mike Wright of Network Rail on setting a new tone for project delivery', 1 Silk Street Experience working in a number of the below areas: Station Design - AfA, platforms, station buildings and canopy design. <> To do so, the centre is providing a knowledge hub, assessing best practice with the supply chain, providing professional development, supporting project assurance and acting as a point of contact with the DfT for the Railway Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) process. As described previously in Rail Engineer (see Issue 188, Jan-Feb 2021), these platforms were completed just three months after funding was approved. SRC Infrastructure has been providing project management and engineering-based advisory, consultancy and managed services solutions to UK infrastructure clients for 20 years. The benefits of PACE are said to include: A simpler project management structure, which can be followed by all departments working on projects at any one time; Improved delegation of authority up the chain of command; A greater focus on risk management across all levels of the organisation; More effective use of key performance indicators (KPIs); A more coherent approach to procurement and contracting processes across different disciplines (including civil engineering works). We are a small to medium sized company that has built a strong reputation delivering multi-disciplinary projects and programmes for private and public sector clients. He has also been awarded a Diploma in Engineering Management by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. To receive New Civil Engineer's daily and weekly newsletters click here. Grip is being retired during this year with each of the five Network Rail regions given the power to make decisions about how and when projects migrate to Pace. Rail lineside civils works including UTX/URX design & lineside structures. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". With 70 people supporting work on 60 projects, infrastructure work is a significant issue for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). This policy comprises a number of individual projects with varying stages of delivery maturity. Any technical or legal issues that could cancel an option or a project should have been identified by this point. In 2013, the latter gave him an award for being its international journalist of the year. Making the Grade (Separation): The Bermondsey Diveunder, Holy Grails and Thameslink Fails (part 2): The plan that went wrong, A Study In Sussex Part 11: Diverted to the Oxted Lines, London Bridge: The First Sign of Things to Come, A Study in Sussex Part 6: The Approaches to London Bridge, Schrodingers Cab Firm: Ubers Existential Crisis, Slavery and the Railways, Part 2: Building a Better Future, Mind the Gender Gap: The Hidden Data Gap in Transport, Deutsche Bahn, Lufthansa see major increase in air-rail demand (RailTech). Its requirements are also based on a similar matrix derived from the project Level of Control. Our readers include transport experts, politicians and enthusiasts both in the UK and globally. 8 0 obj The 2017 plans consisted of a new high-speed line connecting Phase One (London to the West Midlands) to Leeds, serving an interchange at Toton (in the East Midlands) and with connections to Sheffield and the East Coast Main Line, to access destinations including York and Newcastle. <> Award-winning coverage of transport infrastructure and politics alongside stories about the history of the Capital's transport networks. You can read more about our role in supplying the rail industry on our supply page. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This can be done as an order under existing legislation, such as Transport and Works Act Orders (TWAO) or Development Consent Orders (DCO), or via new legislation that must pass through Parliament (hybrid bills). She emphasised that SPEED was not about rushing or cutting corners; instead it was about being more thoughtful about what we do.. These improvements, together with the identification of additional benefits, enable the DfT to accelerate the project through the RNEP process, with the time to get to decision to deliver brought forward by 12 months. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. High Speed 2 (HS2) is a new high-speed railway linking London, the Midlands and the North, with services continuing to Scotland via the West Coast Main Line. The UK National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is the executive agency responsible for providing expert advice to the UK government on infrastructure challenges facing the UK. I am also quick in forming relationship in a collaborative way. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". endobj A parkway railway station is a railway station that primarily serves a park and ride interchange rather than a town or city centre. He advised that GTR had received good passenger feedback from recent blockades which had significantly disrupted their journeys, but only once. <> At Gatwick Airport, the station improvement project had been delayed by two months due to the Covid lockdown. PACE and Optioneering avoiding a drawn-out option selection process by providing a more flexible approach whilst maintaining rigour. We are also part of the supply chain working to improve efficiency throughout key rail infrastructure projects. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It's been claimed that PACE will have an even greater impact than GRIP in delivering efficiency gains. Speaking about Grip, Haines has previously said that if it is used properly, it works. Its aim is to secure rail investment by demonstrating that the industry can become more competitive by significantly reducing costs and halving the time it takes to complete projects. For Grip we looked at where it wasnt working and the opportunities to improve.. Led by Network Rail's Industry Programme Director Christian Irwin, the project moved quickly from feasibility to detailed design, enabling implementation of the works in April 202; a move from concept to construction in just 8 weeks. He felt this came at a good time as the projects original remit focused on increasing capacity which is no longer the key issue. The leading source for independent news and analysis about transport in London and beyond. Like what you've read? But it [Grip] is rarely used properly so it is not fit for purpose, he told last autumns annual Rail Industry Alliance conference. The project is being led and promoted by Northumberland County Council as a third-party project, with Network Rail having an asset protection role. Amounts of time and cost required to move projects from concept to reality are often criticised in the UK construction industry, but Network Rail is tackling the issue head on with a fresh look at its project delivery framework. endobj And that is why it is not fit. Emma Osborn, Commercial Director, Network Rail Wales & Western, made the point that her company does not have all the answers and needs the humility to accept that suppliers can offer solutions if they are engaged early enough in a project. GRIP stands for Governance for Railway Investment Projects. >> The one-team approach dovetails into the Williams Review which will require the different parts of the railway to work much more closely together. He advised that if the industry could seize the opportunity to build back better and faster, it would have the fervent support of his government. Instead, it must grasp the opportunity SPEED presents to do things differently. 200TH EDITION Rail Engineer January / February 2023 200 Issues & 2,900 articles later, Are passengers getting a good ride? Experience in the design of rail-related mechanical systems PACE has. Backed by $255,000 of his own money, Casper has raised $333,000 for the race while Carlson has brought in nearly $110,000, still a large sum for a City Council contest. These plans have been revisited in this Integrated Rail Plan. I bring . He was assured that if he felt a panel was not adding any value, he should feel empowered to challenge its necessity. Our expertise extends to depots, operations, maintenance analytics and asset management across all aspects of rail, including transport, technical and sustainability assessments and systems infrastructure. From the start of this year the Governance for Rail Investment Projects (Grip) process, which has been in place for more than a decade, is being replaced with Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (Pace). 5 0 obj Wright says that a complex, major project may still run through these stages sequentially but the stages can be overlapped and combined for smaller schemes. It involved eight 'stages' from feasibility through to operational handback. The session will be held on Thursday 20 May 2021 from 12.45 - 5pm, online. Within Pace we are trying to create a framework with a delegated authority of decision making, he explains. You have entered an incorrect email address! Typically, a minimum of 5 years' experience working in the rail sector. AECOM produced the Strategic Outline Business Case and are providing project management services. Segregating fast and slow rail services onto separate tracks. 14 0 obj 27 0 obj Description used where a station consists of multiple layers of tracks the low-level line runs below the high-level line. Procurement developing a simplified process. Page 6 of 7 ProjectSPEED(Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery) is a joint initiative between the Department for Transport and Network Rail. I think that our project delivery will be in a very different place in 12 months time, he concludes. Grip 3. The centre of excellence is also working with the DfT to improve the RNEP process and incorporates the RNEP portfolio funding team. And that is why it is not fit. Real time data is key to supporting this decision making Raildiary a potential best practice tool to help realise the benefits of Project SPEED and PACE. Wright adds: I have one project that under Pace will save up to 75% on the time needed on running through the Grip 1 to Grip 3 process.. So what is PACE, and how does it differ from its predecessor? Management and. Bridge design, refurbishment and strengthening schemes. Minister of State for Transport, Chris Heaton-Harris, emphasised the Prime Ministers view that the UK government expected rail will play a vital part in boosting Britains Covid recovery. Network Rail capital delivery director Stuart Calvert is undertaking an analysis of potential efficiencies that could be delivered by Project Speed and Pace, which is expected to be presented at a future board meeting. The latest minutes from Network Rails board meeting show that the project acceleration in a controlled environment (Pace) was expected to start being rolled out last month. In addition, a new delivery model was developed for the three packages of work: rail corridor works led by Network Rail, stations and highways led by Northumberland County Council and introduction of the new passenger service led by Northern Rail. Experience of working in the UK rail industry with good working knowledge of Network Rail GRIP / PACE process / standards and approval processes. Assurance has to remain a really important part of project delivery to avoid throwing the baby out with bath water. The Integrated Rail Plan plans for Warrington include the reopening of the disused low-level platforms underneath Warrington Bank Quay and the West Coast Main Line, which runs broadly perpendicular to the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail service. According to Wright, Grip was much more than a project lifecycle and there are hundreds of other processes, policies and governance controls across Network Rail that were affected by the Grip process. endobj & Laying RIAs Parliamentary reception strikes a positive note, Newcastle exhibition marks bicentenary of Robert Stephensons company. PACE stands for Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE), an approach that Network Rail have developed to manage projects in order to minimise the risks associated with project development and delivery. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. This very much reflects the greater focus on local knowledge that Pace is expected to deliver. Play all audios: Loading. Rail Project SPEED: Introduction and PACE - 20 May 2021 689 views May 24, 2021 3 Dislike Share Save Railway Industry Association 142 subscribers Introduction and Overview of Rail Project SPEED. The reversing of the direction of travel of a train. to a status equivalent to RIBA 2 and Network Rail PACE ES3 (formerly GRIP 3), moving the project on to the next stage and seeking to maintain partner support and commitment; 3.3 The RIBA stage 2 report and OBC was shared with the industry working group regarding the acceptability of the work to date with a recommendation that we Real time data is key to supporting this decision making Raildiary a potential best practice tool to help realise the benefits of Project SPEED and PACE. The ten identified themes are: Helping to make SPEED business-as-usual is the role of the Rail Investment Centre of Excellence led by Network Rail Wales & Westerns Capital Delivery Director, Stuart Calvert, who emphasised that its role was to support the regions who are accountable for project delivery. It is a more flexible control framework compared to GRIP and allows sponsors and project management to tailor controls to better meet the requirements of their project. With the more effective use of resources, and greater collaboration between teams across different rail projects, it is thought that PACE will have an even greater benefit on delivering efficiency gains than its predecessor GRIP. It is an outcome of the Governments Covid-19 recovery plan, helping to deliver public investment projects more quickly and at a reduced cost. Network Rail, the train operator, maintenance team and other relevant authorities are engaged to receive ownership of the project, now called an asset. In an article last year in New Civil Engineer, Mike Wright (Network Rails Capital Investment Programme Director) describes the aim of PACE to keep the rigour of Grip but not control projects so excessively that we are adding extra time and cost to the delivery.. An independent, not-for-profit company that provides analysis and commentary on the UKs high-speed rail network. endobj They were split across three formal project management phases. Working with DfT, Network Rail identified six infrastructure projects of differing scale and stages of development, and asked them to consider past and current constraints, and what was needed to unblock them. SPEED is all about the mindset shift needed in the industry to radically transform our cost base and programmes for infrastructure, and embracing the PACE frameworks is one of the ways in which this can be enabled. This was hosted by the Railway Industry Association and had 2,400 participants, half of whom were suppliers. With strikes paralysing Britain, bosses have lost their grip on where we work . endobj Success will deliver an industry that trusts knowledge and expertise, does not follow rules at the expense of common sense or better outcomes and is filled with people proud and excited to work in rail. endobj <> Phase One will open between 2029 and 2033. Taking advantage of current reduced traffic levels to deliver the recent Kings Cross blockade nine months earlier than its originally planned December date was a major planning exercise that was only possible with effective collaboration. /ProcSet [/PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI] GRIP, a project by Network Rail to help deliver efficiency improvements on the rail network, has been replaced by a new programme called PACE. Where our earlier organisational change has given us the right structure, SPEED will give us the right mindset, and tools, to put passengers first and drive value. You have rejected additional cookies. This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/integrated-rail-plan-for-the-north-and-the-midlands/integrated-rail-plan-for-the-north-and-midlands-glossary. A form of risk analysis applied to engineering projects that considers the impact and likelihood of risks and quantifies them numerically. (RailDiary). 19 0 obj 6 0 obj document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. . Project SPEED (Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery) is a joint initiative between the Department for Transport and Network Rail. The challenge now is to spread and scale that best practice across other programmes and the wider network. <> But it is rarely used properly so it is not fit for purpose, he said. It will remove layers of process and bureaucracy that add little value, while freeing up time to focus on doing the things that matter, safely. It provides a flexible delivery framework which sponsors must use to ensure that the arrangements for their projects are fit for purpose. At RSP we support the introduction of PACE. Fast services between Leeds and London currently use this line. endobj Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris told the conference there is a business imperative to get on with modernisation of the network, but there is a need to guard against complacency as the success of current rail programmes will influence future investment. endobj DWF > The Legal 500 Rankings Real estate > Social housing Tier 1 DWF's affordable housing practice is a go-to name for high-profile national and regional mandates, acting for a Network Rails standard NR/L2/P3M/201, Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE), started to be applied to new projects on 4th January and will progressively be applied to live projects unless there is a reason not to do so. He also stressed that it has to look outwards by working externally with the supply chain and organisations such as RIA and the Major Projects Association. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. Value for Money is one of the key considerations of any decision involving the use of public funds as referenced in The Green Book guidance issued by HM Treasury on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects across government. Finally, he noted that there are occasions when a slower and more coordinated approach is appropriate, especially when there is a risk to the timetable. endobj Their Regional Rail Director, Simon Middleton, described how the project had been involved with Project SPEED since summer last year and had since reduced capital costs by 25% and accelerated completion by ten months to the end of 2023. It is understood that DfT's budget for the passenger railway for 2023-24 remains the same as for 2022-23, while for 2024-25 a further 1bn is removed from the funding available. Yet he cautioned that PACE could go the way of GRIP unless behaviours changed. The number of trains that can travel through a corridor during a period of time. . Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines told last autumns Rail Industry Alliance annual conference that the eight-stage governance in rail investment projects (Grip) framework process, which was first adopted in 2010, was to be replaced because its not effective. endobj At a time of scarce funding, the industry has to reduce both the time and cost of project delivery. He felt that it was important not to spend too much time optioneering and quickly discard options that are not viable. BCRs are calculated by dividing the forecast monetised benefits of a scheme by the forecast total cost across the schemes lifecycle. PACE stands for Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE), an approach that Network Rail have developed to manage projects in order to minimise the risks associated with project development and delivery.