Introduction
Tom Lee
Director of Standards, RSSB
Tom LeeDirector of Standards, RSSB
As can be seen in this report, all standards changes have been delivered on schedule in 2024. This continues the run of excellent performance, achieving this in each of the last five years.
The report shows several highlights, collectively delivering a benefit of £74m over the next five years. This is a conservative figure. The real benefits are likely to be very much greater.
A significant contributor to the benefits is the introduction of a new type of speed restriction. This allows trains to accelerate sooner in some circumstances than existing types of speed restriction. This makes only a small improvement, but because it happens at many locations, many times during the day, the cumulative improvement is significant.
This report summarises the key activities in 2024 and is divided into sections:
Section 2 - Key achievements in 2024 - showcases six representative new and revised standards published in 2024, and explains the objectives and benefits being delivered.
Section 3 - Standards committees updates - has a narrative from each of the chairs of the seven standards committees, discussing key areas of interest in the year, including international standardisation. The list of committees is in Section 6.
Section 4 - Rail Standards Strategy - gives a summary of the continued delivery of the Rail Standards Strategy following its approval in late 2020.
Section 5 - Keeping you informed - includes information about how standards and changes to them are communicated.
Section 6 - RSSB-facilitated groups and committees - lists the standards committees and their subgroups.
Section 7 - Need help? - has information on how to seek help or provide feedback.
The appendix shows the effective stewardship of the standards catalogue, specifically how the requirements of the Railway Standards Code are being met. It has detailed figures and analysis about this.
2024 started with new editions of the Railway Standards Code and the Standards Manual coming into force. These are the governance documents for creating, changing, deviating from, and publishing railway standards.
The changes to the Code and Manual included:
Expanding the scope to include governance procedures for Rail Industry Standards and National Operations Publications, and recommendations for revisions to National Technical Specification Notices (NTSNs).
Updating the legal context to reflect changes to the regulatory framework following the UK’s exit from the EU.
Clarifying the scope of deviations.
Recognising procedures for RSSB technical notes.
Use of gender-neutral language throughout.
Work started in 2024 for a more significant revision to the Code and Manual. The aim is to simplify the application of standards. Due to complexity, and the need to firstly educate stakeholders and then gain their agreement, the programme will continue for a few years.
The standards landscape is relatively complex, partly due to the evolution of different pieces of legislation, and also due to choices made by the industry for other good reasons, which can unintentionally complicate the application of standards.
There was a significant push from the industry in 2023 to propose revisions to NTSNs following changes to the European Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs) made in September 2023. The objective was for Great Britain to gain the same benefits from the changes as the rest of Europe without undue delay.
With the support of the standards committees and the wider industry, RSSB did a significant programme of work to deliver industry recommendations on seven revised NTSNs to the Department for Transport (DfT) within six months of the TSIs revision. This included many stakeholder meetings, full industry consultation, and responding to hundreds of comments. Regrettably, industry consensus could not be achieved for the eighth NTSN, the Energy NTSN (ENE NTSN). As soon as this was apparent, RSSB recommended the post-consultation version to the DfT and started work on addressing the contentious issues.
Unfortunately, at time of writing, it looks like at least 12 months will have elapsed between making the recommendation to revised NTSNs being published. This is disappointing and represents a loss of opportunity for GB rail. The approvals process is disproportionate when compared to other technical standards, for example Railway Group Standards (RGSs).
RSSB actively seeks feedback on standards and the associated processes. It has been apparent that there are perceptions that standards committees do not adequately take cost implications into consideration and that decisions may be biased against those with substantial funding obligations, such as infrastructure managers.
RSSB had no evidence to support this view, but recognising the significance, engaged independent consultants KPMG to undertake a review and report back to the RSSB board.
The review has found that for most issues, standards committees are reasonably effective. However, there are a growing number of higher profile issues that need consistent leadership and direction. There is currently no agreement on where that leadership should come from.
KPMG have recommended four courses of action to address 15 recommendations. Notably this includes a review of the principle and practice of consensus-based decision making. With the support of the board, RSSB will work through all of these in 2025.
RSSB standards are used by a very wide community. RSSB works across the whole railway sector and the country. Many meetings with standards users take place at their premises. Standards committee meetings use a hybrid format, with the physical location outside of London from time-to-time.
Significant effort is made to communicate the benefits of standards and alert users to changes. A standards update email was launched for subscribers in 2024 and this is proving popular. It is being sent to a wide population and has good click rates as users follow up on the material in it.
RSSB continues to provide a range of briefing materials for standards. The regular quarterly update webinars continue to have good viewing figures and are a great way to reach many people.
Standards are a team effort. RSSB has a dedicated team of specialists delivering standards. Our research colleagues support us in delivering new knowledge to incorporate in standards and our System Safety and Health and Sustainable Development teams provide specific technical expertise so that the standards are robust. Our Projects team helps deliver the standards and our Communications and Engagement team supports realising the benefits. Without effective teamwork it would not be possible to deliver the standards.
We’ve continued to enjoy fantastic support and collaboration from across the industry, in particular Network Rail, and from government and other bodies notably Rail Partners, the Rail Delivery Group, and the Railway Industry Association (RIA). RIA have been particularly supportive in addressing the issues with the ENE NTSN. We are most grateful for the support from all organisations and individuals.
