OPERATIONAL PLANNING – PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES
From time to time the IRO offers an Operational Planning – Principles and Practices Course.
Our next course is scheduled for 4th – 6th November 2011 and will be held in Manchester. The course will commence at 19:30 on Friday 4th November and will finish late afternoon on Sunday 6th November.
This is a classroom-based course and is designed for those who are fairly new to the subject or those who wish to further their career development and expertise in this field.
COURSE OVERVIEW:
The course covers five main areas:
The Network:
The nature of the railway network, how it determines the shape of the train service, and may itself be shaped by the train service requirements. How the components of the network interact resulting in both the advertised timetable, and the reality of the train service.
Timetabling Preparation and Resource Planning:
The development of a train service from commercial and other perspectives; processes and tools for planning the train service and the supporting resources plan; timetabling tools and techniques.
Access Management:
The processes that take the timetable from specification to implementation; controlling alterations to the timetable during its operation, access for engineering work.
Capacity:
The capacity of rail networks; what is capacity, how is it created; the practicalities of exploiting capacity effectively in a public service.
Projects & Development:
This section covers devising, defining, evaluating developments to the railway system that can be operated successfully by delivering a train service that meets commercial requirements, offers value for money in respect of both infrastructure and resources, and performs well in practice.
The programme will cover the following aspects to enable you to identify the basic principles that apply to the following specific areas of operation:
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Commercial specification – planning to meet it and improve on it
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Track layouts and signalling – how do they affect the train service?
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Planning Rules – what determines them and how they are used to build a timetable
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Timetable construction tools anfd techniques (train graph, platform occupation graph, tabular presentations);
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Planning timescales (the permanent timetable, short-term planning, very long-term strategic planning)
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Access planning and management
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Generating revenue through timetable planning
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Planning for performance
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Costs of operations – fixed and variable, marginal and avoidable
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The Operator’s role in business case appraisal and project development
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Resource planning – rolling stock and crew diagrams, key issues in crew rostering
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Capacity – what is it, where it comes from and where it goes.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
On successful completion of the course students will be able to:
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Understand the objectives of timetabling and the constraints within which timetabling operates
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Understand how the timetable underpins a railway business by generating revenue and setting costs
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Appreciate and employ a selection of standard timetable and resources planning techniques
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Relate effectively with associated disciplines such as commercial management and project management
DURATION:
The course is run over a full weekend, commencing on a Friday evening and finishing late Sunday afternoon. (Weekends have been chosen to ensure availability of expert tutors and for ease of releasing staff).
Course Fees:
The course fees are £880.00 exclusive of VAT. This includes course material, overnight accommodation on Friday and Saturday, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday and a course dinner on the Saturday evening.
Apply for the course here: Operational Planning Course Application