Cutting Possession Reporting Time by More Than 50% Across TRU
“eviFile allowed us absolute clarity on status & completion of activities during blockades”
Calum Duncan, Programme Controls Manager, Network Rail
Connecting a 122km Railway Upgrade
The Transpennine Route Upgrade is a major railway improvement programme covering 122km between York and Manchester. The route serves 23 stations and carried 29 million passengers during 2019 and 2020. Prior to the upgrade, trains on this route were often slow, crowded and infrequent leading to an unsatisfactory experience for customers.
Overseen by Network Rail, the TRU West Alliance and the TRU East Alliance, the programme included electrification, signalling upgrades and additional tracks in selected locations. These improvements were intended to increase capacity and line speeds, provide more frequent services, shorten journey times for passengers and support a lower-carbon railway.
Keeping Railway Handbacks on Schedule
The Transpennine Route was heavily used, while difficult terrain and poor access roads made construction work challenging and potentially disruptive.
Much of the construction work had to be completed during planned weekend and holiday closures. Across a typical 52-week period, activity could involve 106 highly disruptive worksites. More than 400 blockades lasting longer than 27 hours were expected over the lifetime of the programme.
Handing the railway back on schedule was critical. Delivery teams needed an accurate, hour-by-hour view of work across every possession. Paper forms and spreadsheets created duplicate reporting, unnecessary communication and delays in getting information to decision-makers.
Reducing Reporting Time by More Than 50%
Transpennine needed to understand progress, productivity, outstanding activities and potential interventions without manually consolidating information from several sources.
A pilot of eviFile improved efficiency by more than 20% and reduced the time spent on possession reporting by over 50%. Following these results, the solution was selected for a wider programme rollout.
The programme adopted a Field-to-Control Room approach covering possession reporting, completions management and site progress tracking. This gave delivery teams, control rooms and programme leaders a shared view of work across the route.
The platform also established a consistent completions strategy across the East, West and Central delivery teams.
Replacing Paper Forms with Structured Digital Evidence
Engineers and site managers used eviFile to capture structured evidence directly from site. The platform was configured around TRU’s established programme controls and delivery processes, supporting consistency without imposing an entirely new way of working.
TRU moved from paper forms and Excel spreadsheets to a digital process that provided:
- Audit trails and live reporting dashboards
- QR code access from mobile devices and computers
- Tagged photographs and videos as evidence of completed work
- Geotagged incidents plotted automatically on a map
- Structured data that could feed business intelligence systems
This gave programme leaders and delivery teams faster access to trusted information, while helping them identify recurring issues and take preventative action.
It also enabled progressive assurance across the programme, with structured, traceable evidence captured throughout delivery rather than assembled retrospectively at completion.
Establishing Consistent Delivery Across More Than 1,200 Users
Discovery workshops established the forms, roles and permissions required across the programme. Involving delivery teams early ensured the system reflected established controls while creating a consistent approach across regions and disciplines.
After supporting more than 100 possessions during the pilot, eviFile was prepared for use by more than 1,200 people across the programme.
Increasing Workforce Productivity by Up to 20%
During the first 18 months of eviFile deployment, workforce productivity increased by up to 20% through better data capture, reporting, quality control and performance tracking.
TRU also saved an average of 2.5 hours during each 24-hour possession. These savings came from quicker decisions, faster defect resolution and improved visibility of progress.
Network Rail, the alliances and primary contractors could view activities hour by hour from any location. eviFile also brought together information from different regions, platforms and workstreams, feeding Power BI with a consolidated programme-wide view of progress and completions.
Strengthening Programme Control, Safety and Collaboration
A consistent source of information reduced duplicate reporting and unnecessary communication between delivery teams, alliance partners, the control room and Network Rail.
It also supported live tracking of accidents and close calls. By analysing recurring issues, teams could identify patterns and reduce similar risks during future work.
The programme achieved:
- More than 50% less time spent on possession reporting
- Up to 20% higher workforce productivity
- An average of 2.5 hours saved during each 24-hour possession
- More than 100 possessions supported during the pilot
- A wider rollout prepared for more than 1,200 users
Build Assurance Into Every Stage of Delivery
See how eviFile can create a consistent, traceable evidence base across your programme.
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