How we’re ‘multiplying’ our ability to respond to industry challenges
We spoke with Helen Costello, Director of Business Management and Performance at RSSB, to learn how our new ‘strategic multipliers’ will better equip us to solve key industry challenges.
Helen CostelloDirector of Business Management and Performance, RSSB
Helen Costello, RSSB’s Director of Business Management and Performance, tells us about the new ‘strategic multipliers’ we’re introducing to help solve industry’s main challenges. They bring together RSSB’s distinct expertise, which will strengthen our ability to support our members.
We’re introducing strategic multipliers to our 2024–29 Strategic Business Plan. What are strategic multipliers?
Strategic multipliers are the way we combine many types of expertise. We have a unique collection of people at RSSB, and we’ve identified several key areas in which we can better tap into their collective knowledge:
safety and health insights for the future
enabling automation and benefitting from artificial intelligence
improving testing capabilities
exploiting the value of data
improving weather resilience and preparedness for a changing climate
embedding sustainability.
These six multipliers will allow us to provide the best technical support industry needs to deal with the challenges it faces, such as cost reduction and performance. These industry challenges are the highest priority issues in our new strategic business plan.
Our strategic multipliers form the basis of our response to the change these challenges bring. They include aspirations of rail reform and industry’s recent experience, focusing on three principles in particular:
better sharing, use, and assessment of data
collaboration to exploit leveraging synergies across organisational, regional, and contractual interfaces
delivering financial, social, and environmental sustainability.
Our multipliers build on these three principles and highlight how we’re going to support the sector in addressing them.
Why have we introduced them?
It’s the beginning of a new five-year plan. We want to take a fresh approach and build on what we’ve achieved in the previous five-year plan.
No challenge facing the sector is one dimensional. We need to move away from a siloed approach to a more collective use of expertise across different disciplines. This will allow us to help solve some of industry’s current challenges, such as weather resilience.
Our vision for the next five years (2024-2029) is based on solid foundations. During these five years we will drive positive change across six strategic multipliers, new but important areas for us and our members.
As an example, what benefits will combining the expertise of our engineering and safety departments bring?
There’s a lot more we can do to exploit the value of data. This area has real potential to deliver cost savings and improve performance. For instance, in 2024–25, we’ll develop a new standard for time in railway operations. This will be the first time this has been done in over a century. It will drive performance improvement and improve post-incident analysis. It will also benefit passengers through better information provision.
More generally, we’ll also provide guidance on how industry can better exploit operational and engineering data. We’ll also upgrade the Red Aspect Approaches to Signals Toolkit to manage train accident risks linked to signals passed at danger.
How do you think these multipliers will amplify what we’re able to do for industry?
As we start a new five-year plan, we’re focusing our output on meeting the challenges that industry is facing. The strategic multipliers shape the way we’ll tailor our future strategy to meet those challenges. That means we’ll be able to look at each issue as a whole and get more bang for the buck from that combination of RSSB expertise.
Finally, how are we going to measure the success of these multipliers and optimise them over time?
We’re unapologetic in the fact that we’re at the beginning of our journey with these strategic multipliers. We’re still exploring how they can contribute to what we’re outlining in our strategic business plan. They’ll be present for the next five years, so they’ll mature and grow, feeding into our programme of delivering our long-term commitments.
We’ll continue to match these to how we can help the industry. Our core areas of focus will be:
cost reduction
safe and satisfied passengers
improving system reliability and resilience
adopting new technology
freight safety and growth
value to society and sustainability.
