The Operational Planning Masterclass Goes International
In January of this year, the popular Operational Planning Masterclass was held overseas for the first time.
The course tutors, Edmund Waddelove from Network Rail and Luke Gardner from TransPennine Express, travelled to Dublin to deliver the course to a group of learners from Iarnród Éireann.
This presented unique opportunities for the tutors to present the course content in the Irish context and for the participants to take part in a specialist course recognised by CIRO. The discussion around the similarities and differences of rail in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom proved fruitful and interesting for all involved.
Barrie McElhinney, Strategy & Scope Development Manager at Iarnród Éireann, organised and took part in the course, commenting:
“ The team were very accommodating in developing a specific masterclass for our needs. The masterclass itself was very informative in a number of areas, and the knowledge gained will be useful in project delivery”
The Operational Planning Masterclass introduces the specific tasks of operational planning, illustrating how the timetable is fundamental to a railway business by generating revenue and influencing costs. Participants are guided through the topic using hands-on activities and provided with the essential tools and techniques for operational planning.
Following the processes that take a timetable from specification to implementation, learners are introduced to case studies that illustrate the challenges of producing a timetable, and how to succeed. The course also demonstrates the Operator’ s role in developing business cases
52 CIRO | Bulletin 55