Brent Cross West Station

Brent Cross West station is the first major new mainline station in London in over a decade, and was successfully entered into service on Sunday 10th December 2023.


Positioned on the Midland Main Line between existing Hendon and Cricklewood stations, it has enabled through journeys from Bedford to Brighton, taking as little as 12 minutes for passengers to connect from King’s Cross St Pancras to Brent Cross West.


At peak times, there are up to eight Thameslink passenger trains per hour. There are also direct connections to Farringdon for Elizabeth Line services (Crossrail) and to Luton airport.

Scope

Prior to entry into service, HSRS lead the system safety activities for this third party funded scheme, demonstrating compliance to the CSM-RA Regulations and therefore how this new station was to be safely integrated into the existing railway network. All assurance deliverables were supported by the AsBo (NCB) and SRP, allowing the station to be entered into service.


HSRS are now leading the CSM-RA system safety activities for Post-Commissioning, including final updates of the System Definition and Hazard Record.


Delivery Challenges

  • Local Authority lacked experience in setting the strategy to achieving Authorisation for Placing into Service (APIS) from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).


  • Little or no initial engagement with key system safety stakeholders, i.e. ORR, SPR, NRAP, CMS-RA AsBo, and NTSN AB in the Authorisation process.


  • Unclear contractual scope between the Local Authority and the Infrastructure Manager resulted in inadequate safety risk management in railway system works.


  • Lack of Hazard Transfer process between the Proposer and the Train Operating Company.

Benefits Delivered


  • The new Project Authorisation Strategy (PAS) was created, which clearly confirmed the split in scope between the Local Authority new station development and the infrastructure manager railway systems works; helping to confirm the deliverables to be provided by each party as part of the Station being Authorised for Placing into Service from the ORR.


  • Detailed System Definition and System Safety Plans were developed to bound the project risk assessment activities and detail the system safety activities to be performed to demonstrate compliance to the CSM-RA regulations and that the station would be safely integrated into the existing railway network


  • The Station Hazard Record was updated with significant levels of detail to ensure that the hazardous events were clearly described and appropriate safety requirements developed; ensuring that one of the project's most important documents would be acceptable to the CSM-RA Assessment Body.


  • Hazard workshops were set up between multiple stakeholders from differing projects, and their designated specialist engineers, in order to identify hazards that would arise from interfacing project elements. Actions were then issued to appropriate engineers, with the sessions helping to outline any oversights in the design.


  • The Post-Commissioning CSM-RA suite is now being delivered to support project closure, including update of the System Definition and Hazard Record.


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