The Rail Standards Strategy is our five-year vision for standards-related activities that sets out our plan to address broader industry objectives, challenges, and opportunities.
In 2023 we have seen a steady rate of recovery in terms of ridership but with periods of industrial action, aborted plans for ticket office closures, and plans changed for the future of HS2. Throughout the year the sector has still been looking for better ways of working together to reduce costs across industry and will be looking in 2024 for the opportunities for digital transformation to gain more prominence.
We have continued to track progress against the objectives within the strategy. This year we have been:
Responding to needs and adapting to challenges by delivering benefits to industry of just under £50m over a five-year period through revisions to standards, in particular large benefits for the standard for the management of signalling system defects, analysis, and corrective action. The role that sustainability plays in standards is growing and we have been looking to embed the principles of the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, the industry-wide plan for realising sustainable rail, in all areas of standards development.
Enabling digitalisation, the use of alternative energy sources, and better use of data by providing information and guidance about the assessment of fire risk arising from the use of batteries on rail vehicles, learning from the Carmont derailment in August 2020. Additionally, the national CCS DRACAS is expected to save the rail industry around £231m over the next ten years by alerting affected organisations to faults and failures that have been experienced in other parts of the system, whether they operate there or not.
Adapting to a new regulatory landscape and managing greater choice by establishing the post-EU-exit legal and standards framework which includes work to update the NTSNs in line with government policy principles, in parallel to the TSI changes. The NTSNs allow all parts of our network to run as a whole system, providing benefits for our customers and our society. This work should be completed in 2024 when industry recommendations to change the NTSNs will be proposed to the DfT.
For the areas of strategic focus, we have been:
Setting robust governance through the revisions to the Railway Standards Code and Railway Standards Manual. The Code has been expanded to include the governance procedures for RISs, National Operations Publications (the Rule Book), and recommendations for revisions to NTSNs. The changes also help improve users’ experience of working with RSSB on deviations, providing clarity about when a project needs to seek a deviation from a standard. Other changes promote inclusivity by making language gender-neutral throughout the documents.
Delivering standards through improving the accessibility of RSSB standards based on user needs, and helping users focus on the things that are most important to them. Webinars have been used to good effect to brief industry pre-consultation on NTSNs. This has probably resulted in fewer comments but they are more targeted according to the changes that were highlighted in the pre-consultation briefing materials.
Supporting implementation of standards with industry where Rule Book modules were revised as part of a wider consideration of reducing the use of detonators as a form of protection. A set of briefing materials were produced to support the changes made to the modules, and a self-assessment test was developed for use by front-line staff to help embed the changes.
For information about the Rail Standards Strategy visit our website.
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