The RAIB report into the Carmont accident highlighted issues concerning the organisation, capability and governance of Scotland’s Integrated operations control.
To fully understand these issues, Scotland’s Railway engaged VA Rail to undertake an independent review of the organisational structure and effectiveness of the Control. The aim was to identify any immediate areas for improvement, and to propose a longer-term strategy for the Control, reflecting best practice from elsewhere to create a world class facility together with any short-term actions which could be taken to progress towards this.
The VA Rail team carried out interviews with directors and managers from NR Scotland, ScotRail, cross-border operators and other UK Controls over the course of 12 weeks. The work also involved a detailed review of over 70 documents to understand how the Control was organised and how the processes, technology and communications were documented.
The review resulted in twenty recommendations which were set out in the context of a 5-10 year strategy/roadmap for change which would move Scotland’s Control towards becoming ‘best in class’ in the UK. The recommendations were focused on improving governance and developing people, technology and processes to deliver the best service possible for customers.
