Knowledge

PB is committed to sharing the knowledge we have gained throughout the world on our major and innovative projects with emerging professionals, industry colleagues and our clients. On this page you will find papers, articles and presentations selected from our PB Knowledge Store by our practice leaders - if you need further information or cannot find what you are looking for contact knowledge@pbworld.com
Paper of the Month Innovative Systems Engineering Practices That Help Manage The Organisational And Technical Complexity Of A Modern Railway Project Alan Knott, Mike Stubbs Abstract The London Overground East London Line Project (ELLP) will extend an existing London Underground line to form a new metro-type railway linking to the North London Railway (NLR) and with National Rail services in the south of the River Thames. The new East London Railway (ELR) will conform to National Rail Standards and form part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) London Overground network. Phase 1 of the ELLP is due to complete in 2010; in good time for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games. The project has completed the initial requirements definition and high level product specification and recently awarded contracts for the supply of new passenger rolling stock and for the main infrastructure works worth nearly £600m. The East London Line Project (ELLP) has many areas of complexity both organisationally and technically and is using innovative systems engineering practices to address the challenges that arise. In this paper the authors will describe a number of methods, some being used in this application area for the first time, that are helping the project team to manage the complexity, including a structured system decomposition, a multilevel engineering project lifecycle, a robust management system for technical requirements and interfaces, a progressive approach to systems assurance and the introduction of robust configuration management practices in a practical and pragmatic manner. Click here for the full paper