CP6 Strategic (Delivery) Plans

[whole diary]

[stuving]

With CP6^▸ (Control Period 6 - The five year period between 2019 and 2024) just days away, Network Rail have put out a full set of delivery plans. These are not the enhancement delivery plans we used to get, as enhancements are now going to be dealt with individually, just ones for the boring little bits left over. These are called Route Strategic Plans (there are also non-route plans for central functions), though the full-length documents have more in them than that suggests. Indeed, to add up to £35 Bn there have to be some quite big boring little bits.

However, just to make life more fun, there are at last two sets of these documents on undated (how did that ever get to be the standard practice?) pages. This page has the submitted ones from March 2018, and so does this one, while the approved ones (or regulated for the full text) are in this page with "delivery" in its heading. There is another page publicising the release of the latest plans, but it has no links to them! And even when you get to the right page, you have to find the list of regulated plans, and not click on the map as invited - that too leads to the old Strategic Business Plans page!

The full Western Route Strategic Plan is here. Most of its 113 pages are about metrics and aspirations; the TTD lists start at P 29 (6.3 Asset by asset key outputs). One of the main areas included is resignalling, which counts as renewals even if it is a big update. Even there some of it is a bit gnomic - for example, what does this really mean?

The implementation of plans to overcome the Great Western -Automatic Train Protection (GW^▸ (Great Western)-ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection)) system obsolescence will look to build upon feasibility studies undertaken in CP5^▸ (Control Period 5 - the five year period between 2014 and 2019) and further studies in the early part of CP6, this will align with the Digital Railway (DR) policies as appropriate but will focus on the needs of the route.

[SandTEngineer]

Thanks for posting that, STUVING.  I think what they are trying to do is avoid conventional resignalling, including TPWS^▸ (Train Protection and Warning System)+ (to allow 125mph running), by moving direct to the 'Digital Railway' i.e. ETCS^▸ (European Train Control System)/ERTMS^▸ (European Rail Traffic Management System.).  Hence delay everything until CP7 or beyond, if GW^▸ (Great Western) ATP^▸ (Automatic Train Protection) will last that long.

I also note that they are going to defer Plymouth and Cornwall resignalling again and kick it into the long grass (CP7/CP8).  That means, for example, that Plymouth Panel will be at least 70 years old by then.....who says old technology doesn't last....

[Lee]

[paul7575]

I think there always were separate annual Strategic Plans for each route issued separately to the Enhancement Delivery plans, so I don’t think this in itself necessarily implies a significant change.

Paul

[stuving]

I think there always were separate annual Strategic Plans for each route issued separately to the Enhancement Delivery plans, so I don’t think this in itself necessarily implies a significant change.

Paul

Indeed there were Route Plans, and first CP5^▸ (Control Period 5 - the five year period between 2014 and 2019) one was longer and contained a section on the complete resignalling programme. And that was a "Rote Summary Plan" - I think it summarised a bigger internal document set, not a longer published report. But what was in them was always a bit hit and miss, both in coverage and level of detail. I imagine that will still be the case.

However, a lot of the so-called renewals work was listed under "interfaces and assumptions in the EDP, so at least you knew it was going on. Without one, our focus has to shift to these Route Plans. But here's a thought: shouldn't we still have an EDP for CP6^▸ (Control Period 6 - The five year period between 2019 and 2024), to cover those projects that started under the old rules and run into CP6?