Project B5 - International Benchmarking

Partners:
Imperial College, London

Researchers:
R. Smith, L. Hatano

Dates: 2003-2006

Background:
Historically, railways have always operated largely within a 'national vacuum'.  Recent years have seen increasing globalisation, for example in the field of vehicle procurement, and particularly with the impact of European legislation on interoperability.  Recognising and transferring best practice from around the world is essential; the first stage in this process is benchmarking.

Virgin Voyager - state of the art DMU identifying international best practice

Aims:
The International Benchmarking project aims to provide a comprehensive database of world railway operational performance and systems, current policies, research priorities etc.

Progress to Date:
historical data on population, rail length, freight traffic, passenger traffic and motor vehicle usage for Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA.
Latest available data for the same 15 countries on population, land area, population density, purchasing power parity, rail and electrified route length, rail passenger km and journeys, train kilometres, rail revenue and financial data, rolling stock, punctuality, performance, safety and accidents, high speed countries, routes and rolling stock, rail freight, road route length, road passenger km, number of cars.
Historical data for population, rail length, freight traffic, passenger traffic and motor vehicle use in the UK.
Establishment of a searchable database to present information.

Future Work:
International Benchmarking with Japan and European railways on productivity, safety and risk management, assett reliability, service quality, finance, costs and otehr categories, with a detailed report on costs.