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Theme Background
The performance of the UK rail network is currently receiving a lot of attention. Many commentators are of the opinion that performance has deteriorated markedly over the past few years, and quote train delay statistics, among other things, as evidence. At the same time the Government is investing substantial amounts of money on rail enhancements, and wants to see some evidence that the money is being well spent.
Existing measures of performance are often very narrow in their scope. As a result they are of limited use, because they do not necessarily reflect accurately the health of the network as a whole. For example, an increase in tonne-kilometres of rail freight would suggest an improvement in the freight business and could be regarded as a good thing. However, if it happens in conjunction with an increase in broken rails, the situation is less clear.
An accurate view of performance where it matters most (i.e. at service delivery level), cannot be produced without metrics that consider the rail system as a whole. These cannot be developed, however, until a clear understanding of the railway's sub-systems and their complex interfaces has been established. Research into whole systems performance is therefore vital to the long term viability of the UK rail industry.
Whole System Performance - Definition:
Railways are a complex industry comprising a large number of interlinked sub-systems. The rail service as experienced by end-users is dependant upon the perfromance of the system as a whole, which in turn is dependant on effective interaction between the sub-systems. There are very few aspects of railways therefore, that do not have some effect on whole system performance, which makes it difficult to provide a concise definition.
Indeveloping a definition it is helpful to consider the key questions underlying whole system performance, which include:
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What are the stakeholders' current requirements for the railway?
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In the light of these, what outputs can be expected realistically from the railway (bearing in mind the constraints that apply and current system architecture), and how can they be measured?
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Where the railway does not meet current stakeholder requirements, where should research be focused to improve the situation, and?
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What aspirations do stakeholders have for future outputs, and what research requirement will this generate?
On the basis of the above, the following definition of whole system performance has been developed:
Whole system performance: Achieving an operational state which satisfies the current and future requirements of teh principal stakeholders while at the same time addressing the wide range of constraints and interfaces that apply
Research Vision:
To optimise the performance of the UK railway system through:
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The use of system engineering methodologies to map current system architecture and the requirements, interfaces and constraints that lie behind it, and;
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The use of scientific methods of enquiry to address the key issues affecting current performance and the long term development of the system. |