Overview
SPL Powerlines UK is one of the leading rail electrification businesses in the UK. The company is an experienced overhead line contractor capable of carrying out all aspects of overhead line construction and maintenance – from foundation level to commissioning, or any mixture of these disciplines, on all rail networks.
Initiated by Network Rail, SPL Powerlines is working on the Midland Main Line Electrification (MMLE) upgrade project, a £1.5bn improvement scheme which includes electrification of the line, upgrades to bridges and tunnels, remodelling of stations along the route, and line speed enhancements.
These vital upgrade works are designed to increase passenger capacity on the MMLE route as well as reducing journey times. Once complete, the track’s carbon footprint will be lessened by up to 11,000t, thanks to the introduction of ‘greener’, electric trains.
As with many large infrastructure programmes, the scale of the works required the capture and management of vast amounts of assurance and asset information. Ensuring this data was structured, traceable and aligned with project requirements was critical to maintaining quality, compliance and long-term asset integrity.
Key Facts
- User-friendly dashboards provide real-time reports on project health
- 7 million checks completed to fully achieve compliance
- Demonstrates compliant golden thread of information
- Supports Cardon Reduction strategy by reducing reporting time and rework
“7 million checks were completed using eviFile to fully achieve compliance. The big game changer for us is live data on project health – How many are being installed? How many being signed off? – It’s so much more powerful utilising all that data in real-time”
Simon Skinner, Engineering Director, SPL Powerlines
SPL Powerlines previously relied on traditional approaches to construction management, such as working from paper copies or spreadsheets stored on central databases. The process was disjointed and inconsistent when trying to piece together, for example, notes on materials, photos of works online and annotated drawings on paper.
As a result, critical project information was fragmented across multiple formats and locations, making it difficult to verify, validate and use as a reliable source of assurance.
What Triggered Change
This lack of structured information meant visibility into works was limited, and assurance processes relied heavily on manual interpretation. As a result, quality issues were not always identified early, leading to teams returning to site to remedy defects and increasing the risk of inconsistent compliance records.
Project managers found themselves with copious amounts of administrative tasks and paperwork, which had a knock-on effect to their capacity, in terms of overseeing contractors in real-time.
With reports on progress due every period – and 13 periods making up a year – the majority of time would be spent compiling information from different locations and manually creating reports, thus only adding to the time spent in the office, and not on the ground.
Despite many engineers being happy with the traditional process and did not see the value in using a digital system to compile everything into one place, key stakeholders were keen to deploy a digital solution that would streamline reporting processes, improve efficiency and assurance, and ultimately improve quality of the construction work
Why SPL Chose eviFile
SPL wanted to ensure a clear and compliant record of how each asset was constructed, including when, where and by whom work was completed. This required a structured and traceable flow of information across the project, often referred to as a golden thread of asset data.
They chose eviFile as it provides a digital environment for capturing, structuring and connecting assurance data from site through to project and programme reporting.
Each project asset has all related digital information stored in eviFile, from design stage to end construction. This includes every drawing, engineer stimulus, quality check sheets, and inspection test plans. All documentation and supporting evidence is captured by any mobile device, creating a digital audit trail for every activity, completely eradicating paper and ensuring data collected from site is securely encrypted and GPS stamped.
Successful rollout is supported through early stakeholder engagement and discovery workshops to discuss required forms, roles and permissions to match current processes. This enables project teams to begin shaping how the system works before full rollout and is an important consideration to consider is when replacing manual or spreadsheet-based processes.
Dedicated training and ongoing support are part of a successful rollout, whilst the pilot project demonstrated value, further helping to overcome any resistance to change.
What Changed After eviFile
By introducing a structured approach to information capture, SPL Powerlines transformed how assurance data was managed across the project. Information is now captured once on site, linked directly to the relevant asset and validated through defined workflows, creating a consistent and auditable record of delivery.
Not only that, but issues, snags, and non-conformity requests can be collected by an engineer in real-time. These problems can then be taken through a separate workflow process – streamlining their progression to approval. As a result, any project hurdles – and potential delays – are not only allocated, tracked, and managed towards completion in real-time, but remain digitally-linked to the main asset.
All assurance and operational data is available in real-time, enabling teams to monitor planned versus actual progress while ensuring that information remains consistent, up to date and aligned with project governance requirements.
SPL Powerlines preferred processes are now managed though a configurable control panel, enabling all forms and workflows to be easily tailored to their customer’s needs, with the ability for required data to be shared, exported, or presented in a Common Data Environment.
Once teams have secure, instant access to live data within one place whether on site, in the office or between the two, is key to successful rollout.
Other Business Benefits
With SPL Powerlines working towards a 10% project carbon reduction, eviFile’s digital quality assurance capabilities bolsters their ability to reach their goals by driving down reliance on analogue paper use, reduces the number of site visits, and curtail snagging and rework – key metrics in any net zero initiative.
Beyond immediate project delivery benefits, the structured data approach supports long-term asset management by ensuring that information captured during construction is complete, traceable and ready for handover into operational systems.
Information Management in Practice
The SPL Powerlines programme demonstrates how structured information management underpins effective project delivery.
By defining how assurance and asset data should be captured and linking it directly to physical assets, the project established a reliable and auditable information foundation. This supports not only real-time decision-making during construction, but also compliance, reporting and future asset management.
This structured approach creates a continuous and traceable record of delivery, forming a reliable golden thread of information that connects design intent, construction activity and assurance evidence.
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- Assurance checks can run in parallel to the build, reducing admin time
- Reduced costs and significant timesaving
- Improved efficiencies
- Increased visibility across the project
- Improved quality of construction
- Reduced site visits to close referrals
- Accommodates quick timelines - from set-up to implementation.
In addition to these operational improvements, the project established a consistent and scalable approach to managing assurance data, enabling repeatable deployment across future electrification programmes.