Early Certificate of Commencement for a London commuter train company

The Client

The client had not managed a mobilisation for a number of years, but was taking over the new franchise in the summer.

The Challenge

Major works were scheduled for the final two weeks of the mobilisation project and the first week of the new franchise. The client needed to close out as many Conditions Precedent as early as possible in order to achieve the Certificate of Commencement in time to take over the franchise.

Why CAS Max?

The client knew that we had previously managed successful mobilisations and that we had the industry connections and understanding to deliver a smooth project.

What did we do?

When we began working on the project, an initial high-level plan had already been developed, and we were able to use this to manage the programme. The first tasks were:

• to check the plan for compliance and work with the respective project managers and the Department for Transport to finalise the plan; and
• to develop and document risk and assumptions.

The project was managed on a weekly cycle, including weekly meetings with Workstream Leads and with the Department for Transport, Network Rail and the incumbent franchisee.

The significant programme of improvement work meant there was a major blockade at the end of the mobilisation timetable, so we structured the project plan to front-load the activities where possible.

The Outcome

The franchise was awarded its Certificate of Commencement three days before the new franchise started.

After the franchise commenced, we managed the contributions to the Department for Transport’s lessons learned. All internal lessons learnt were captured through a questionnaire and workshop for future mobilisations by the parent company.