Britain’s Digital Railway programme – shaping the future

In 2017, we secured a pivotal role in the Delivery Partner (Systems) team for Network Rail, working on their Digital Railway programme, to bring European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) to the [location] UK as is being rolled out in Denmark.

Delivering the foundations for Network Rail’s Digital Railway programme facilitated significant network wide benefits for the railway by improving safety and punctuality, helping maximise capacity, enhancing the customer experience and supporting future economic growth.

The project involved working with the Network Rail route teams, train and freight operating companies, rolling stock companies, industry supply chain and other stakeholders to develop candidate schemes for digital rail. The team also supported the preparation of Outline Business Cases to inform the following 5-year funding and regulatory period from April 2019, known as CP6.

In the role of Delivery Partner (Systems), Ramboll worked with Arcadis to help shape the Digital Railway programme. We delivered a range of services including technical leadership, engineering solutions, project and risk management, stakeholder engagement, business change and industry training, data and asset management.

The team also led the development of the Digital Railway Toolkit – a set of requirements, specifications and processes, along with competency and training requirements, that would support the roll-out of the Digital Railway across the UK rail network.

Digital modernisation of the network involves removing fixed lineside signals and replacing them with in-cab signalling. Ramboll drew on their extensive experience as delivery partner for Banedanmark over the past decade on the Danish re-signalling programme and applied this knowledge alongside Arcadis with their experience of partnering with ProRail in the Netherlands where European Train Control Systems (ETCS) technology is widely implemented.

The Delivery Partnership also spearheaded the creation and set-up of the Digital Railway Academy to identify future training requirements and ensure the supply chain is equipped to respond to Network Rail’s long-term vision.