How can the railway industry reduce costs and delays on projects? My answer would be very simple – V&V. Put simply V&V stands for Verification and Validation and is a process that originated in the systems industry for the military, aerospace, and medical industries. A well implemented V & V process can overcome numerous issues commonly experienced on railway projects and is a cornerstone of good project management.
Building on my experience of successfully using V&V for the High-Speed Rail project, HS2, in the UK, I am bringing this approach to my current project working on the California High-Speed Rail line. The benefits of using this approach in the railway industry on this high profile, multi-billion-dollar project, far outweigh any cost associated and can make the difference between the project’s success or failure.
When applied to a multi-disciplinary railway project involving communications, infrastructure, power, signaling and numerous other engineering fields, V&V provides a robust, evidential, unequivocal process to answer the question:
How do we safely build what we say we are going to build and incorporate all the design requirements of these disciplines in one place (Verification) and once built, does the finished product do what we said it would and meet all the requirements laid out at the beginning? (Validation).
Using V&V, designers can readily identify the requirements for their work making them much easier to read, apply and digest. How many clients hand over 2000 pages of design requirements and expect the designer to be able to find everything applicable with ease? V&V is the answer, making all requirements easy to find and cross reference, as well as outlining where requirements impact other engineering disciplines, so the process goes seamlessly.
Ultimately, the end product not only meets clients' needs but has been much easier to build and quality test, as well as incorporates checks and balances throughout the process, reducing possible mistakes, rather than all at the end. For example, if the Client has asked for a bridge with a certain clearance, then that clearance has been delivered through demonstrable evidence and you do not run the first train in hopes it does not hit it!
V&V allows projects to comply with state and federal regulations, laws, and requirements from the onset, in other words, prior to building phase. Without V&V, meeting the above requirements is not guaranteed and often times is not even discovered until after the project has been built. More importantly, obtaining certificates of operation become harder to do when V&V is not implemented.
V&V manages changes to requirements, making them easily captured and agreed upon, reducing the chance of claims. Their impact upon other elements of the work are clear, and especially helpful in complex projects such as railways with infrastructure, signaling, communications, power and train systems, all of which must work together.
V&V speeds up the completion process and subsequent payment and allows demobilization and mobilization onto the next project. By quickly providing the evidence work has been completed according to specification, contractors can submit final bills and move on to the next phase of the project.
V&V is also a key component of ISO9001 accreditation, allowing contractors to demonstrate to clients they are ones who place emphasis on quality. This improves their marketing and encourages the highest quality staff to join the company.
Having used the V&V process for over five years, and having seen what it has done for projects such as HS2 in the UK and the California High Speed Rail, there is no wonder why it’s my first recommendation for project builders and contractors who often struggle with meeting deadlines and budgets. The U.S. has slowly adopted V&V, and there are not many examples of infrastructure builders using it here. Hopefully having seen the benefits through existing projects both here and across the Atlantic, and the simple steps used to implement it, more companies will introduce V&V processes in their own projects.
Projects that do not adopt V&V risk being left behind and unsuccessful in winning work. Many US transportation agencies, such as New York City Transit Authority, LA Metro, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, are seeking ISO 9001 certified bidders that comply with Federal Transit Authority Quality Management System Guidelines in recent bid solicitations. V&V is a key component of this.
Given its obvious benefits, it is difficult to see why all railway projects should not adopt a V&V approach. The future of the US rail industry is relying on it.
About the Author
Simon Hughes has worked in the infrastructure design and construction of railroad projects for almost 20 years. His engineering career has focused on design, management and delivery of major railway projects in both the United Kingdom and most recently the United States. He has held integral roles delivering the multibillion dollar new high speed rail line between London and Paris, and the new $25 billion high-speed railroad between London and Birmingham, where he was responsible for the first 50 miles of the route, including the complicated London station and tunnels. Most recently, Simon has been working on the California High Speed Rail Line, based in the United States.