Sponsorship on the Network Rail Thameslink Programme Wednesday 4 September 2019 presented by: Nick Gray

1. Sponsoring the
Thameslink
Programme
APM 4 Sep 2019
Nick Gray

2. Tonight
APM 4 Sep
2019
Sponsorship on Network Rail
enhancements
Applying sponsorship to the £5bn
Thameslink Programme
A sponsors reflection on Thameslink
learning

3. Sponsorship within
Network Rail

4. Network Rail & Sponsorship of enhancements
APM 4 Sep
2019
The day job for
the 300 strong
sponsorship
community
The community does NOT cover
asset management professionals or strategic
(SRO) sponsorship as there is a separate
Leadership profession
We are one of the
largest sponsor
communities in UK
infrastructure.
An established
operating model

5. “The Sponsor is ultimately accountable for the success of a project”
The Sponsor is the guiding mind of a project throughout the lifecycle. They are the link
between the client, funder, system operator, delivery agent and stakeholders
Why have sponsors?
APM 4 Sep
2019

6. Define & deliver
benefits
Agree
requirements &
business case
Direct & support
delivery agent
Secure funding &
authorities
Lead corporate
governance
Identify & manage
stakeholders
Lead stage gate
reviews
Resolve strategic
issues
Change control
with funder &
regulator
What does the sponsor do?
APM 4 Sep
2019

7. Specific standards and handbooks cover
sponsorship building on applying sponsorship over
the last two decades (Prince 2 base)
Methodologies & Frameworks
APM 4 Sep
2019

8. My job – the theory
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2019

9. My job – the reality
APM 4 Sep
2019
Turning a load of fuzziness into
something joined up & providing
tangible business benefit
Client-facing contracts
Information, reports,
communications
Managing £££££
Providing air cover for
the programme & team
Issues management:
loads of them & they
suck time & resource
Dealing with a huge variety of
stakeholders
Reality vs expectation
Logistics & deliverability
Governance through the lifecycle
Assurance
Developing the team
Standards & Policies

10. Sponsorship – inside or outside the tent?
APM 4 Sep
2019
Executive
Director
Programme
Director
Executive
Leadership
Team
Executive
Leadership
Team
Executive
Director
Executive
Director
Programme
DirectorSponsor
Sponsor
Peers
Sponsorship on major infrastructure schemes
Same people; same roles.
Both regimes have been applied in Network Rail
Whether it works (or not) is driven more by people & relationships than process

11. Applying sponsorship to the
Thameslink Programme

12. Thameslink …. Objectives & benefits
APM 4 Sep
2019
The official
line
The much more
digestible
message used on
hoardings

13. Delivering the Thameslink Programme
ENHANCED
INFRASTRUCTURE
115 NEW TRAINS REMAPPED FRANCHISES
APM 4 Sep
2019

14. Unlocking increased capacity & connectivity
Peterborough
Cambridge
Kent
Brighton & South
Coast
Capacity tripled from 8
trains / hour
Removing bottlenecks
Bedford
APM 4 Sep
2019
New tunnel
provides
connectivity

15. Thameslink in context - investment
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2019
One Vision One Way & the professions
established by early 2017

16. Thameslink in context - people
73m
hours
45k
people
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2019

17. Governance & Sponsorship

18. Sponsorship structure on Thameslink
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2019
DfT
Network
Rail
Protocol Agreement

19. DfT Governance Framework
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2019

20. DfT Governance Framework – Industry Plans
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2019

21. Network Rail Governance
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2019
Chain of command from NR
Board down to Programme

22. NR programme & project sponsorship
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2019
The NR Thameslink Programme
had over 100 constituent
projects
Outcomes vs outputs
Each infrastructure project had
a nominated sponsor
Mirrored the programme work
break down structure
Over 90 people at peak

23. Managing external dealings…..
APM 4 Sep
2019
Sponsor
team
Project
teams
Funders,
neighbours,
external bodies,
Train Operating
Companies
Supply
chain
Contracts –
lots of them
Contracts –
lots of them

24. ….. Leads to sponsor team being project managers
APM 4 Sep
2019
The work breakdown captured non-infrastructure enabling
activities as projects in their own right delivered by the
sponsor team. Nine figure spend.
• Industry & external consents costs
• Environmental mitigations
• Highway works
• Property acquisition
• Train operator costs & compensation
• Possession access costs
Therefore Programme Sponsor needed a project
management and commercial management structure for
these enabling & facilitation activities

25. Reflections – focusing on the
external world

26. New trains - Class 700 ‘Desiro City’
• DfT awarded contract
in June 2013 to
Siemens plc and
Cross London Trains.
First services mid
2016. All trains
delivered by mid
2018.
• 8 and 12 car fixed
formation units
• Lighter and more
energy efficient
• 115 trains in total
APM 4 Sep
2019

27. New Traincare Depots
• Two new purpose built
Traincare depots
• Constructed & run by
Siemens
• Three Bridges opened in
October 2015
• Hornsey opened in July
2016
APM 4 Sep
2019

28. New stabling
• NR has constructed
stabling at Selhurst,
Brighton, Peterborough,
Horsham & Cricklewood
• GTR has extended
stabling at Bedford &
Cambridge
• Further storage sidings
around the network
APM 4 Sep
2019

29. London Bridge - Creating a station fit for the 21st Century
Whilst keeping the 4th busiest station in the UK
open for business
Source: ORR
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2019

30. London Bridge approaches …. unpicking the knitting
….whilst allowing 8% of the UK passenger trains to pass through.
1,800 trains/day, 170 in the peak hour
2013
2018
APM 4 Sep
2019

31. Heart surgery on a conscious patient
May 2013: Low
Level works begin
Jan 15: Low Level
works completed
May 15: First stage
of high level works
completed
Jan 16: Stage 2
completed,
Borough viaduct
brought into use
August 16:
Southern
concourse brought
into use
Jan 18: New layout
The approaches ….
choreographing multiple
sequential stages
APM 4 Sep
2019
Plan devised at the start …..
and crucially we STUCK TO IT

32. Construction phase timetables & blockades
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
FCC now GTR
Thameslink
Southeastern -
Cannon Street
Southeastern -
Charing Cross
Southern now
GTR Southern
No services via London Bridge
24 tph30 tph
16 tph
24tph throrun
24 thro run
20 tph
24 tph stopping
22 tph
28 tph
24 tph
1 tph
25 tph
29 tph
Ramp up
All services via E&C
Blockades requiring T/T mods
~22 tph
TPH in peak & simplified for clarity
APM 4 Sep
2019

33. Early 2015
APM 4 Sep
2019

34. Removing a bottleneck: Borough Viaduct
• A new viaduct which
doubles the number of
tracks heading west out
of London Bridge
station
• Built over Borough
Market in 2010-12.
Brought into use in
January 2016
APM 4 Sep
2019

35. Digital and social media @TLProgramme
UK Rail Conference - London Bridge
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2019

36. May 2018
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2019
• The May 2018 timetable change was meant to herald the
largest national timetable change in a generation to take
advantage of new infrastructure and new train fleets.
This would result in more services and more capacity.
• In reality it led to major disruption to passengers in some
parts of the country including Thameslink.
• Central to the issues were that good intentions and over-
optimism within the rail industry about its ability to
accommodate changes in the train service left no time to
uncover and fix problems.
• The changes were subsequently scaled back to a
sustainable level and then introduced in a phased way.

37. Benefits & Legacy

38. So is the new capacity & connectivity being used?
APM 4 Sep
2019
ORR Data: Passenger kilometres
(billion kms) by operator, 2018-
19 Q3 and percentage change
compared to 2017-18 Q3

39. Has it been worth it?
APM 4 Sep
2019
DfT own the business case
(2015 - as published NAO/DfT)
£9.5bn benefits
£7.6bn costs
1.24 : 1
Further £1bn of wider economic
benefit
Post-completion assessments
mapped out for the next few years

40. Making the difference - safety
Multiple sites in final
fit-out phase
Significant Event
investigations
Time 2 Talk

41. Learning Legacy #1
APM 4 Sep
2019

42. Learning legacy #2 - Our Learning Legacy website
www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk
APM 4 Sep
2019