DESIRED OUTCOMES
What success looks like for the RTS
The Rail Technical Strategy exists to help industry deliver for its customers. It is a live, evolving strategy designed to reflect the changing landscape, celebrate successes, and highlight where further effort and attention is needed to unlock technical progress.
It naturally sits alongside a range of other rail and transport strategies. The role of the RTS is to help identify and pursue the technical transformations needed to deliver against the well-established 'Four C' challenges: reducing cost and carbon, attracting customers, and providing agile capacity.
As technology advances, the five desired outcomes set out here provide a framework for defining and measuring the effectiveness of the RTS. They describe the value unlocked for industry duty holders and decision makers, research initiatives, academia and supply chain.
As technology advances, the five desired outcomes set out here provide a framework for defining and measuring the effectiveness of the RTS. They describe the value unlocked for industry duty holders and decision makers, research initiatives, academia and supply chain.
Strategic progress
Support rapid progress towards industry's strategic aims
The RTS is part of a bigger strategic picture, showcasing the industry’s agreed areas of technical focus and the pathway towards key goals. The goals for each functional priority have been mapped to show how progressing towards them will underpin progress towards the Strategic Objectives for Rail, and targets within other cross-industry strategies.
Focus research efforts
Steer research funding and initiatives to priorities advances in agreed areas
Public-funded research, development and innovation entities will give precedence to supporting activities that have a clear link to the goals and stepping stones set out in the RTS. This allows the wider research community, including commercial R&D, to collaboratively schedule multi-stage initiatives effectively.
Inform investment
Inform long-term investment planning for replacements and renewals
Budget holders for capital investment and operational costs understand the status of technological solutions, allowing them to plan for upgrade / overhaul / replacement.
Empower suppliers
Empower supply chain to deliver the technical solutions required by industry
Major contractors through to SMEs and start-ups can target their development efforts and funds towards technological solutions with the confidence that there is a clear need for them. Better sight of the insertion points in line with longer-term planning will provide information on the timing and scale of market opportunities.
Foster collaboration
Foster collaboration and provide a conduit for sharing successes and challenges
Through the development and ongoing monitoring of progress against the strategy itself, plus the collaboration mechanisms established via the RTS website, the right parties are brought together to achieve the shared goals.