Asset Register

As the owner and operator of the railway network, Network Rail is obliged to have well developed processes for collecting, managing and accessing all key information about the network’s physical infrastructure. Condition 24 of its network licence requires it to establish and maintain a register of relevant assets.

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Who uses the asset register

The primary user of the asset register should be Network Rail itself. The asset register should hold the key information it needs to manage the railway infrastructure assets in an effective, economic and efficient manner.

Many third parties also require access to information held in the asset register, including: regulators, funders, train operators and rolling stock manufacturers. Developers of new railway facilities (such as stations), local authorities and Passenger Transport Executives also require access to the asset register.

Condition 24

The asset register licence condition (Condition 24, referred to as LC24) was introduced by a licence amendment on 18 April 2001. It requires the network operator to establish and maintain an asset register, the purpose of which is to ensure that the licence holder holds, and has appropriate access to and records of, knowledge of the relevant assets, including knowledge of their condition, capability and capacity, in the manner and to the extent and standard which best achieves:

(a) the maintenance of the network;
(b) the renewal and replacement of the network;
(c) the improvement, enhancement and development of the network; and
(d) the operation (including timetabling) of the network.

Asset register guidelines

LC24 does not specify the form of the asset register. Instead, it requires the preparation of guidelines which specify the detail and form of the asset register, the information within it, the methods of measurement used to record information and records of the actions taken by Network Rail to comply with its obligations.

The guidelines therefore provide the critical framework against which we have assessed Network Rail’s compliance with its obligations.  

The first guidelines were approved in August 2002. They were revised in November 2005 in order to create a clearer and more structured approach to bringing the asset information up to a suitable standard for use both by Network Rail and external stakeholders. The guidelines make it clear that the asset register is not just a giant database of the infrastructure assets owned by the company (eg. what they are, where they are and perhaps some work history). They state that:

“In order for Network Rail to best discharge its stewardship obligations, the company needs to have and maintain a competent asset knowledge management system, complete with data to an appropriate quality and currency to meet the needs of its business and relevant stakeholders.”

The Guidelines required Network Rail to produce biannual plans setting out how it would achieve compliance. Although we have now accepted that Network Rail has completed the core tasks set out in its compliance framework, it is continuing to submit progress reports in April and October of each year. We use these reports to check how Network Rail is continuing to consolidate and embed its management of asset information within its core business processes. 

Compliance with asset register guidelines

The compliance framework set out in the guidelines defined six major tasks and the dates by which they were to be completed. These tasks were:

  • Task 1 a comprehensive review of the asset information that is needed by the business (by 30 November 2005)
  • Task 2 identify the system architecture ie. a database structure specifying where information should  be held (by 28 February 2006)
  • Task 3 data quality improvement through data cleansing and collection (in stages, with final completion by 30 September 2007)
  • Task 4 provision of data access to users, customers and funders (by 30 April 2006)
  • Task 5 develop data management procedures to ensure that data quality is maintained (by 30 June 2006)
  • Task 6 develop information assurance processes to check that data is being maintained to the required quality standards (by 31 May 2006)

As Network Rail progressed work in each of these key areas, our monitoring regime consisted of three main strands:

  • regular liaison with Network Rail, participating in key steering groups
  • receipt and review of (a) regular formal progress reports from Network Rail and (b) the signed certification statements at the conclusion of each key task or sub-task  
  • using the independent asset management reporter to undertake audits and reviews of work in each of the six key tasks, on a sampling basis
    In December 2007 Network Rail formally advised us that these tasks were completed by the specified date of 30 September 2007. It also confirmed that it believed that it was fully compliant with Licence Condition 24.

Following this, we commissioned the independent asset management reporter to undertake a further review and to prepare a summary report setting out their conclusions on the overall status of the asset register development.

Using this assessment, we concluded in April 2008 that Network Rail had made significant progress on the development of its asset information systems and data across many different asset categories, and we concluded that this progress was sufficient  for us to accept that Network Rail has achieved technical compliance with the purposes of LC24 by successful completion of the core compliance tasks.

Current position and next steps

However, we continue to have a number of areas of concern. These relate especially to the culture of use of the asset information systems and processes within Network Rail – we need to understand more about how it will maintain the integrity of the asset information it has worked to establish. When we reached our conclusion on compliance we were concerned that such issues could lead to deterioration in the overall quality of asset information. For example:

  • asset information systems are not yet being used fully and/or consistently at all levels within the company (eg. due to variability in the application of data management procedures and assurance processes that currently focus more on data completeness than accuracy);
  • there are also ongoing concerns about the quality of data that is provided to third party users

We are continuing to investigate these issues with a programme of specific audits being carried out by the independent reporter. Their report will be available by the end of 2008, but our monitoring processes in the long term will continue to examine the quality and accessibility of asset information to ensure that the purpose of the asset register continues to be achieved consistently and reliably. We will be continuing to act as an observer at Network Rail’s Asset Data Quality Group, which is responsible for "understanding, monitoring and directing activities in relation to data quality in any part of Network Rail's asset register". Even though the form of LC24 may change, Network Rail’s licence will continue to require ongoing maintenance and development of asset knowledge as a key element of the ongoing improvement of its asset management processes.


The role of Independent Reporters

The asset management expertise of the Independent Reporters has made an essential  contribution to the assessments we have made so far on the content and quality of the asset register. Using this expertise continues to form a key part of our strategy for monitoring the asset register, providing an important assurance that Network Rail is both continuing to meet its obligations in respect of asset information in existing systems and also that new systems are fit for purpose, meeting Network Rail’s own needs and those of the wider railway industry.

Last updated: 6 November 2008

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