Our Business Plan
How we’re supporting our members keep Britain moving with safer, smarter rail.
There are many challenges in rail. In our Annual Business Plan 2024-25, we set out the work we will undertake to help address industry’s biggest challenges.
Meeting industry’s most important challenges.
Our activities will help industry deliver many benefits. We use ‘Track Records’ to demonstrate the value our work has delivered to industry. Track Records detail the challenge faced, how we helped, and the benefits we delivered.
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Cost reduction
We will help industry reduce excessive costs from maintenance and operations. We will do this through our tools and services that reduce industry cost and improve efficiency.
Here are some examples of work contributing towards ‘Cost reduction’:
- Clearer track standards: improve efficiency in track design, construction and maintenance
- Keeping trains moving and in service during GSM-R system failures
- Revised on-track H5:H7plant standard improves safety, saves industry £70K
- New standards make AC electrification easier and cheaper (GMRT2111, GLRT1210, RIS 2715 RST, RIS 1853 ENE)
- RIS for nationwide collaboration in managing control, command, and signalling systems (RIS 0707 CCS)
- Literature review boosts understanding of fatigue crack growth in steel
- Solar reflective materials on trains to cool down carriages
- Rail data: standardise intelligence for better safety, reliability and insight
- Clearer signals for safer railways: revised standard optimises railway signalling.
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Safe and satisfied passengers
We will continue to support industry deliver healthy and safe services that satisfy customers, even in changed patterns of passenger demand or in response to public health threats.
Here are some examples of work contributing towards ‘Safe and satisfied customers’:
- More comfortable journeys: balancing seat comfort with passenger capacity
- Better delivery of adhesion information improves driver action and reduces incidents
- Common risk assessment framework aims to reduce trespass and save industry millions (RIS-3786-TOM)
- Managing noise levels in passenger carriages
- Making health and safety data easier find and analyse
- Actual hours measurement and monitoring.
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Improving system reliability and resilience
Operational performance in rail needs high levels of employee health and wellbeing. Sharing data effectively about failures, faults, and defects is essential too. So we will support rail leaders to improve in these areas.
Here are some examples of work contributing towards ‘Improving system reliability and resilience’:
- Clearer track standards: improve efficiency in track design, construction and maintenance
- Safer and more efficient integration of heritage railways on the mainline
- Improving operational safety awareness in rail, including depots, freight terminals, sidings, and yards
- Tracking trends in train accident risk using an interactive dashboard
- Train dispatch when on-train camera monitoring systems are not working
- Updated SPAD self evaluation too for better SPAD management
- Reasons for leaving track work objects on the line
- Steps to implement a national system for detecting faults, failures, and defects in control, command, and signalling
- Optimised speed limits for safe and efficient service in bad weather
- Three projects find better solutions for very short term changes to train services with £3m RSSB funding
- Berth-level signal and delay data may improve system performance and safety management
- Machine learning can support SPAD reduction by estimating red signal approaches
- Protecting wheelsets and tracks from damage by better managing flange widths
- New understanding of leaf-induced low adhesion could help reduce associated delays
- Boost competence and safety with new non-technical skills resources
- Reducing ice damage to the overhead lines
- Literature review to help rail companies manage fatigue risk
- Matching signals to track sections is now more seamless
- Technological interventions to mitigate over-speeding
- Optimising driving policies can save time and money
- Ensuring software reliability: New standard improves safety and saves £8.2m (RIS-0745-CCS)
- Overspeed risk: a roadmap to understanding and management
- Objects on the line: improve data collection, reduce risk and disruption
- Maximise track circuit performance for a safer and more reliable service.
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Adopting new technology
We will continue to explore how industry can benefit from new technologies and what is needed to implement them effectively. This includes artificial intelligence.
Here are some examples of work contributing towards ‘Adopting new technology’:
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Freight safety and growth
To help the freight sector meet its target of at least 75% growth by 2050, we will focus on improving operational performance and reducing complexity. We will continue to provide current safety intelligence via our interactive dashboard specifically for freight safety.
Here are some examples of work contributing towards ‘Freight safety and growth’:
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Value to society and sustainability
Using the Sustainable Rail Blueprint we will build on rail’s reputation as the best sustainable transport mode. We will focus on air quality and noise. We will show rail’s key role in the net zero transport system and attract more young people to the industry.
Here are some examples of work contributing towards ‘Value to society and sustainability’:
Read our Annual Business Plan 2024-25 for more details
Click to read RSSB Annual Business Plan 2024-25