RSSB2705 - Legal support services to the RDO

Summary

RSSB has a need for immediate legal advice on the form of a contract with Network Rail for the delivery of services related to a planned industry research, development and technology programme commencing in April 2019 and planned to run in the first instance until March 2024, which is the next five year railway Control Period (CP6). The timescales are very short and require previous experience and specialist knowledge of RSSB as a unique industry body, of rail industry structures, governance, accountabilities and operation. The provision of this legal advice is critical to RSSB securing this programme of work.

Context

The RTS CDP, developed by RSSB on behalf of industry and published by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) in January 2017, provides a single industry plan for the development of technology for the GB railway. The plan, developed through extensive stakeholder engagement and endorsed by the RDG, builds on the vision of the industry's 2012 Rail Technical Strategy by identifying twelve whole system Key Capabilities that the industry needs to develop to realise the vision of a transformed railway that is delivering a sustainable and affordable transport solution for the UK.

The CDP is ambitious, but not unrealistic. Successful delivery of the CDP will require new ways of working and industry collaboration on the development and deployment of technology. Lessons learnt from investments in technology projects in CP5 show the importance of collaborative working between the industry and the supply chain. In developing technology, they have challenged the veracity of the industry's 'not invented here' paradigm and shown that technology from outside the sector can have a major role to play in the delivery of the RTS. Therefore, delivery of Research, Development and Technology (RD&T) in CP6 will be established, with collaboration and technology transfer, at its heart, from the outset.

To achieve this industry coordination and focused delivery, RSSB propose to establish a RTS Delivery Organisation (RDO) under the leadership and governance of the industry's Technical Leadership Group (TLG). The RDO will be the focal point for technology development in the railway, delivering technology and enabler demonstration projects that support the delivery of the CDP as well as monitoring and influencing the wider industry RD&T landscape. The RDO will be organised and scaled to deliver the CDP through eleven work packages and will bring together industry work package owners and key delivery support resources and functions, including the application of an investment fund for CP6 made available through the CP6 settlement from DfT to Network Rail within a tight governance framework.