Project B4 - System Level Cost Framework for the Assessment of Sub-System Trade-offs

Partners:
University of Loughborough
University of Leeds

Researchers:
Loughborough - Dr. J. Pearson and Prof. R. Goodall
Leeds - Prof. C. Nash

Dates: 2003-2005

Background
There is now a reasonable amount of reliable information giving annual operating costs of UK railways, broken down into key categories such as infrastructure (renewal, maintenance, etc.), and vehicles (acquisitions, maintenance, etc.), staffing and so on.  The breakdown between those costs is largely historical, and in some ways a legacy of traditional working practices, but there is no evidence taht the current situation represents the optimum.

In addition, new working practices, new technologies, etc., can affect the trade-off between these categories.

Aims and Objectives
The main aim of the project is to identify and quantify techno-economic tradeoffs within the railway system.  Specific objectives are as follows:

• To assess the optimality of the current railway system
• To determine techno-economic trade-off sensitivities
• To develop a general cost database

The main tasks of the project have been identified as:

• Establish cost breakdown
• Identify sub-system changes and technological innovations
• Determine interaction upon other sub-systems
• Build a quantified interaction matrix

Key deliverables from the project will be:

• Better understanding of system tradeoffs
• Important toll for helping to assess and prioritise RRUK's projects

You can download the report sent to the Railway Safety and Standards Board on the progress of Project B4 up to September 2003 by clicking HERE