Southern Renewals Enterprise

The enterprise

The enterprise, known as the Southern Integrated Delivery, or SID, is a first for the railway industry. The model is based on the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Project 13 principles – an industry leading approach to delivering infrastructure projects that is more collaborative, allows long term planning and has proven to deliver better outcomes for customers.

The Southern region is the busiest and most congested in the country. The region covers Dorset, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent and South London as well as the Network Rail High Speed route which carries Channel Tunnel services. 

As part of SRE, VolkerRail is undertaking track works. VolkerFitzpatrick – sister company to VolkerRail – will undertake buildings and civils, Octavius for electrification and plant, and AtkinsRéalis for signalling.

In a first for the railway industry, Network Rail’s Southern region formed the SRE model based on the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Project 13 principles – an industry leading approach to delivering infrastructure projects that is more collaborative, allows long term planning and has proven to deliver better outcomes for customers.

All four companies form the Southern Integrated Delivery (SID), combining their strengths and expertise. With the SID, the Southern region seeks to make transformational change in how renewals work is delivered by merging the capabilities of Network Rail and its supply chain to develop an integrated approach to delivery that will make the best use of resources, maximise efficiencies and collectively incentivise partners to deliver value to taxpayers and the right outcomes for passengers, freight and railway funders.

What is the SRE model and how will it work?

Aligned with Project 13 principles, the model for the Enterprise will be made up of three distinct entities:

• The Capable Owner (Network Rail) will focus on owning, defining and appropriately assuring the Southern renewals portfolio delivery.
• Southern Integrated Delivery (SID) will be empowered to plan, specify, assemble and handback the full Southern renewals portfolio. Partners will pool their expertise and resources across the entire regional renewal’s portfolio, coordinating and delivering five interlinked tranches of work.
• An ecosystem of the best-in-class constructors and specialist partners, is being assembled and managed by SID, for the overall benefit of SRE’s outcomes.

Efficiencies

Through trying efficiencies savings found by partners to increasing the workbank and linking profit to extra work delivered, the SID will make the best use of resources, maximise efficiencies and be collectively incentivised to deliver value for taxpayers and the right outcomes for passengers, freight and railway funders

First plain line track renewal

The team undertook its first renewal over the early May 24 Bank Holiday weekend. The 73-hour possession saw a Cat 11 Plain Line renewal of 893 yards of track renewed at Wallers Ash (Wessex). The first renewal was delivered seamlessly with the track being welded, stressed and handed back at 60mph, 10mph higher than the predicted handback speed.