Crossrail developed its operational proposition for the completed railway in close collaboration with its client, Rail for London (RfL), and the many other project stakeholders. The initial work defined a set of Crossrail Programme Functional Requirements that articulated the output of the completed railway. Having prepared these requirements, a set of operational concepts were prepared which established a baseline for how these requirements could be delivered.
The operations team created Crossrail’s Operations Concepts, an extensive and encyclopaedic plan, which sets out the safe and reliable modus operandi for the completed railway. Recognised as good practice by many other clients, the operational concepts plan has subsequently served as a successful model for other rail projects.
Crossrail International’s Expert Adviser, Operations, is Charles Devereux. Charles has over 40 years of railway industry experience in systems and operations, both surface and sub-surface, passenger and freight, gained on major rail infrastructure projects throughout North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Oceania. He has provided expert advice for several rail megaprojects around the world, including the UK’s High Speed 2 (HS2); the Metro Tunnel in Melbourne, Australia; the Tel Aviv Metro in Israel; Metrolinx’s GO Expansion programme in Toronto, Canada; and the Riyadh Metro in Saudi Arabia.
Charles spent 10 years in senior roles within Crossrail, latterly as Head of Rail Operations, where he championed the operational concept for the completed railway that serves as a model for similar projects. He had previously served as Interface Manager for the programme, where his responsibilities included developing relationships with other rail industry stakeholders during the passing of the Crossrail Bill (Crossrail Act 2008) involving negotiation of around 30 protective provisions agreements. Charles was also responsible for working with freight companies, interleaving their services with Crossrail, revising terminal arrangements (notably at Westbourne Park), and arranging removal of excavated material from tunnelling operations.
