CASE STUDY

Assurance Plan and Process Design and Implementation

BACKGROUND

EULYNX is a consortium of railway Infrastructure Managers (IMs) with a common interest in establishing generic specifications. It is organised into clusters, each responsible for an individual interface (plus clusters to consider architecture and the development processes).

THE CHALLENGE

Ebeni is under contract to Network Rail to design and implement an assurance plan and process for the EULYNX programme in accordance with the requirements of the Common Safety Method for Risk Evaluation and Assessment (CSMRA).

The assurance goal is to ensure that, when the EULYNX specs are applied in specific signalling products and applications, standard interfaces are sufficiently assured, removing the need for further assurance of the generic interfaces.

OUR SOLUTION

We developed and delivered the assurance plan and assurance process, including hazard identification and assessment and the setting of safety requirements. We gathered evidence and produced a hazard record and assurance justification report.

We brought specialist understanding of the application of CSMRA and the CENELEC standards, as well as applying our cross industry experience in adapting processes to non-standard scenarios. The assurance takes CSMRA as the primary standard to maximise acceptability of the approach across all the infrastructure managers involved.

THE BENEFIT

Our work will result in assurance of the EULYNX interfaces such that they will be acceptable across Europe when applied in signalling products.

We have streamlined the assurance to focus on the relevant issues and identified clear requirements for assurance by the EULYNX development and application conditions that must be considered when the interfaces are applied.

By providing a common safety assurance process accepted by all participants, the programme is reducing costs and time required to develop new signalling systems.