Media centre

Thursday 23 Sep 2004

MULTI MILLION IT PROJECT CONTRIBUTES TO REDUCTION IN TRAIN DELAYS

Region & Route:

National

Train performance has significantly improved since Network Rail brought maintenance work in house.  Network Rail’s Information Management team played a key role in the success of the maintenance transfer process by completing one of the most rapid and complex IT programmes ever undertaken in the UK A new corporate infrastructure was designed and ready for deployment within four months.  IT services were established for 6,000 new IT users in more than 300 UK locations.  Over 150 new applications were tested and deployed to users, with training given to over 5,000 new employees.  And this £30m programme was completed within six months, on time and under budget. Iain Coucher, Network Rail’s Deputy Chief Executive, said: “We are extremely proud of the achievements of our Information Management team and the key business partners who supported them.  Their work made a significant contribution to the complex programme of bringing maintenance in house, which will improve our service to our customers, the train and freight operating companies.  The success of the team and its Information Management partners in tackling the immense IT challenges involved helped ensure this crucial move forward was made smoothly and efficiently.” -more- 2 – Information Management The Information Management team selected suppliers who were “best of breed” to become the key business partners.  They supplemented the work of the internal programme team, which had the core IM skills that drove the successful delivery within the given time scales.  Joe Van Valkenburgh, Network Rail’s Director Information Management said: "This was a challenging programme – some people thought it couldn’t be done.  But we found a way to do it, by having the right team, with a clear objective, empowerment and proper support.   The successful completion of this programme is great example of how a team worked together with a common goal and delivered a difficult programme on time and under budget.” Network Rail selected the following suppliers as key business partners: ·        Hewlett Packard (www.hp.com), which partnered Network Rail’s Information Management Partner (IMP), Atos Origin (www.atosorigin.com) , to build a central IT Infrastructure that included the design and building of the new strategic solution based upon Microsoft 2003 with Active Directory and Exchange infrastructure and XP Professional and Office on the desktop ·        BT (www.bt.com), which project-managed and delivered connectivity to existing and new sites in challenging and remote locations ·        afiniti (www.afiniti.co.uk), which focussed on the end-user, culture, communications and change management challenge, and managed the programme delivering communications, learning and deployment services with a team of more than150 resources (in partnership with:) ·        Computacenter (www.computacenter.com), which managed hardware and software supply, engineering services, cabling installation and configuration services

• Siemens Business Services (www.sbs.siemens.co.uk), which provided skilled personnel to assist in the management and rollout of the LAN and desktop environment across the country

-more- 3 – Information Management Matt Collier, Network Rail’s Information Management Programme Director said: “Network Rail’s selection of suppliers was key to the success of this project.  We shared the vision for a seamless transition within 6 months.  Each new user was introduced to Network Rail’s policies and procedures, and we provided them with the necessary tools to improve the management of rail maintenance.  Working with our suppliers, we have cost-effectively built a foundation for our IT infrastructure, which will serve the company well for years to come.”