Network Rail develops a bespoke application using low-code.
The challenge
Network Rail owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure. That’s 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts, thousands of signals, level crossings and 20 of the UK’s largest train stations.
To maintain the nation’s rail infrastructure, projects frequently work on and around the tracks, often needing to gain access via neighbouring properties, change heritage buildings or operate within an urban environment. There are hundreds of infrastructure projects each year.
There wasn’t a central resource for project managers to seek advice from relevant areas of expertise, or to validate if access had previously been sought or granted. This critical advice can make all the difference to an effective property strategy. The current ways of working relied on spreadsheets and correspondence by email and telephone.
One solutions to meet all aspirations
They needed a central place to record information, to bring consistency and enable audit trails. It was crucial to prevent delays caused where projects require access to the track via another property, but this was not clear until arriving on site, meaning that all the necessary permissions, fees and closures were not in place. They worked with two developers from Netcall to develop a new bespoke application using Liberty Create, our low-code platform.
“Using Liberty Create to develop the tool enables us to prove the benefits of the tool without large up-front expenditure. This rapid development also allows the tool to be enhanced and improved rapidly based on user feedback. The ability to secure land and consents advice in a consistent way during the early stages of railway projects enables the formulation of cost-effective property strategies, immediately preventing costly oversights and delays, plus retaining this information helps to inform future works and identify opportunities to reduce the costs of land access.”
Mark McMonagle
Business Systems Development Manager, Network Rail
The solution
Safety, efficiency and speed are always paramount at Network Rail. The Land & Consent Application improves efficiency because the bespoke system directs project managers through a detailed and systematic proforma.
It guides them through the steps required to develop their property strategy and provides an easy way to request information and ask questions from people in areas of expertise within Network Rail.
During the application build, Network Rail announced a new project governance framework process would be rolled out throughout the organisation. The GRIP framework was replaced by PACE (Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment), which offered more flexibility and tailoring to the needs of individual projects, improving trade-offs between time, cost and scope constraints.
The project team were able to pivot to the new framework easily and cater for both methodologies. Thanks to the flexibility and adaptability that Liberty Create offers, this ensured minimal impact during the transitional period.
Liberty Create has been well-received by the staff that are using it. The rollout benefitted from staff feedback and additional ideas.
Building apps in Liberty Create means you can adapt easily and put each new iteration to use immediately. The project leaders were delighted with the speed of delivery and outcome.
“Working with Netcall has been extremely easy, we have developed a Land & Consents tool in a very short space of time. It’s easy to use for Project teams and the specialists they require information from, allowing decisions to be made that will allow projects to be delivered with reduced cost and risk and will drive efficiencies in the future. The system brings together all of the information required in one place, with agreed SLAs, giving Projects the confidence to make the right decisions at the right time.”
Steve Mellor
Principal Surveyor, Network Rail
The result
Improved efficiency
New, bespoke system with detailed and systematic proforma
Easy way to request information or answers from experts
Streamlined process
Safeguards against costly oversights and delays
Early consultation helps build harmonious relationships with neighbouring landowners
Hear more from Network Rail
Powering further efficiency and savings
Network Rail continue to utilise low-code and other types of intelligent automation to achieve efficiency gains, join together new parts of the organisation and integrate legacy systems.
Impact
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efficiency & accuracy
Visibility
of ongoing projects & audit trail
Lower
cost and less time wasted
Create, launch and refine
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