Great Western Mainline Electrification

The Great Western Electrification Program was part of the biggest investment in the Great Western mainline since Brunel built it more than 150 years ago. Electrifying Britain’s oldest and busiest railway has helped make it greener, quieter and more reliable for people, as well as increasing capacity with five new fleets of trains.


Scope

HSRS provided Engineering Safety Case Management for this multi-billion pound scheme, gaining the required endorsements for the energisation of multiple route sections and the subsequent running of electric trains.

 

Our scope also included the production of Technical File that supported the Declaration of Verification (ECDV-TF) from Maidenhead to Didcot which was Authorised for Placing into Service by the ORR in Dec-17.


Challenges

There were a number of challenges surrounding the project:

  • Route section system safety documentation did not align with the energisation events;
  • 900 hazards entries not sufficiently developed in the Project Hazard Record;
  • Unclear submissions timescales to achieve authorisation;
  • Unclear roles and responsibilities for achieving successful Entry into Service and Authorisation for Placing into Service;
  • Inadequate Hazard Transfer process with the TOCs.


Benefits Delivered

As part of our activities we have brought a number of benefits to the project:

  • Consolidation of the Hazard Record, greatly reducing the number of entries to a focused and manageable level.
  • Collaborative and proactive and timely engagement with Assessment Body lead to supportive Safety Assessment Reports first time.
  • We developed a submissions strategy that aligned that key stakeholders with the requirements to achieve Entry into Service events. 
  • Our Safety Justification Reports tracked compliance evidence from submission to commissioning, effectively communicating with SRP, ASBO, and route Head of Engineering.
  • Proactive key stakeholder management allowed efficient signing of Declarations of Control of Risk (DOCOR), and then ultimately SRP. 
  • Implemented Regular Hazard Transfer sessions with Great Western Railway (the TOC) greatly de-risk programme layout due to non accepted risk.
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