Flexible project management in highly regulated railway signaling projects

Abstract: Railway is a complex system, with many components that are linked with one another. If a failure occurs in a sub-system, it can affect the functionality and the safety of the whole. Signalling represents a crucial component of the railway system because it ensures safety, and it can optimize capacity on the lines. In Europe, private companies control the development and the implementation of new signalling equipment in the railway lines. However, system development processes must satisfy the European standards and the client requirements, which limit the possibility to apply changes in the generic system development process and it leads to employ the same processes in each project, without removing redundant steps and tailoring to the project needs. Recently, Alstom Rail Sweden AB performed the implementation of new signalling system in Älvsjö depot, overcoming several wastes in the process. In this Master Thesis, Älvsjö depot project is compared with a standard project, performed according to the usual procedure used in Alstom projects. The parameters compared are the resource allocation and the days of delay. The results from the data have revealed that projects can benefit through the adoption of the Lean philosophy principles: reduction of waste, increased flexibility, and standardization without eliminating the Stage Gate process in their projects.