East Coast Digital Programme

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Markets

Transportation
Services

Consulting, strategy & advisory

Project & program management

Project delivery
Location

East of England
Client

Network Rail
Collaborators

PwC, Ramboll

Mark Fielding-Smith

National Services Client Director, UK contact form

Creating the blueprint for Britain's digital railway

The East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) is delivering the UK’s Next Generation Railway through the first deployment of digital signalling on the East Coast Main Line South.

ECDP is more than a technology upgrade. It demonstrates how the railway industry can work together to create a safer, higher-performing and more sustainable network for passengers and freight operators alike, while pioneering the future vision of Great British Railways.

Driving collaboration across the industry since early 2020, AtkinsRéalis has been instrumental in integrating over 30 partners to enable successful programme delivery.

The challenge: transforming a live railway while changing an entire industry

Digital signalling has been successfully proven on parts of the UK network, including the Cambrian Line in Wales, the UK Pilot Programme, where the technology has been operating for more than a decade on a single operator route. ECDP, however, presents a very different challenge.

The Programme is delivering digital signalling on a high-capacity, multi-occupier intercity route, whilst fundamentally changing how train and trackside interact, and thus industry standards and how rail enterprises and individuals work on the railway.

ECDP is a transformational change programme with people at the heart, enabled by technology. Success depends not only on technology integration, but on aligning organisations, people, processes and behaviours.

Our role: integrating the railway system, the programme and the industry

As Railway Systems Integration Partner, AtkinsRéalis is responsible for enabling successful delivery of this industry change programme. Through provision of cultural and behavioural change, programme management, business and operation change, engineering, assurance, business services, commercial management and communications we are integrating the railway like never before.

ECDP is pioneering the approach of Great British Railways. By helping over 30 partner organisations work together effectively, cutting through the challenges presented by today’s fragmented railway system, we have contributed to creating a genuinely integrated programme environment that supports successful delivery. In addition, we led ECDP’s successful certification to ISO 44001 Collaborative Business Relationships, the most complex endeavour to ever achieve this international standard.

Working alongside Network Rail, operators, suppliers and industry stakeholders, we established and evolved the Programme Operating Model to manage a programme of unprecedented scale and complexity as it evolved. This included operating an integrated Programme Management Office, providing governance and business services, and developing innovative approaches to stakeholder and relationship management.

Image of person in orange high-vis vest stood at Drayton Park station for ETCS frequency test

Putting people at the centre of transformation

ECDP was purposely set up to be a transformation programme focused on people enabled by technology. This recognised the significant scale of individuals and organisations needing to change the way they worked and to learn new skills. Bringing the industry together meant overcoming the fragmented nature of the rail industry and creating the environment for teams and individuals to adapt and work differently together. AtkinsRéalis provides organisational development expertise that has created a shared sense of purpose across participating organisations.

To ensure ECDP became a place where everyone felt they belonged, were connected and recognised regardless of organisation, creating the right culture has been essential to success. Determined for ECDP to be recognised as a pioneer of Great British Railways, we launched and managed programme-wide communication channels and led initiatives including the ECDP People Development Programme, the Pioneering Leaders Programme, the annual Pulse Survey and action plan, the programme's ED&I mandate ‘We All Matter’, and hosted programme-wide bi-annual events and learning network events.
These initiatives have strengthened collaboration and supported a culture that embraces innovation and shared accountability across organisational boundaries which, in turn has driven successful milestone delivery.

Building the case for change

One of the Programme's early achievements in 2021 was securing full funding for delivery through the Full Business Case.

As Railway Systems Integration Partner, AtkinsRéalis with its partners, PWC, helped develop the industry-wide business case that brought together stakeholders from across the railway to establish a shared understanding of the programme's costs, benefits and outcomes. Achieving this alignment required extensive engagement across the industry, bringing together organisations with differing priorities and perspectives around a common vision for the future railway.

The business case also received a positive assessment from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, reflecting the strength of the programme's strategic case and the collaborative approach taken to its development.

Importantly, the work undertaken to develop the business case established approaches to stakeholder engagement, benefits definition and whole-industry collaboration that have since informed other digital railway programmes across the UK.

Delivering digital railway milestones

The programme is already demonstrating the benefits of digital railway technology.

In May 2025 the Northern City Line, the ECDP’s ‘Pathfinder’, became the UK's first signal-free commuter railway. One year on from successful operations the route is continuing to provide valuable lessons and operational experience that will support future deployments.

Working alongside programme partners, AtkinsRéalis helped overcome delivery and integration challenges on the Northern City Line, redefining programme scope and securing approval for a revised delivery approach that supported achievement of this landmark industry milestone.

With AtkinsRealis human factors and engineering expertise, ECDP delivered the world first fitment of a steam train, Tornado, with European Train Control System (ETCS). With partners and the operator, we ensured modern digital technology could operate safely and effectively in the unique operating environment of a steam locomotive.

Creating the foundations for future digital railways

A key objective of ECDP has always been to create a legacy that extends beyond the East Coast Main Line. ECDP delivers the Pathfinder and Pioneer of the Digital Signalling Masterplan for the UK.

Recognising that future programmes would face many of the same challenges, AtkinsRéalis established and manages the ECDP Learning Network capturing, sharing and transferring knowledge across the industry. The Programme has already informed other major digital railway initiatives, including work supporting the North West and Central region programmes, Transpennine Route Upgrade and wider industry planning for digital rail deployment.

From the outset we created the industry change community that brought together train operators, the infrastructure manager, the technology partner and industry bodies to develop a common blueprint for ETCS implementation in the UK. This work has supported updates to operational rule books, standards and railway processes, preparing the whole industry for the transition to digital operations.

As RSIP, we created the Business Readiness Impact Notices (BRINS), bringing together user requirement groups from across the industry to agree the business and operational changes needed to support digital railway delivery. The collaborative process helped build industry-wide alignment and established an approach that will support future ETCS programmes.

Image showing interior of GTR train, showing in-cab ETCS system

Innovation beyond technology

Many of the programme's most significant achievements sit behind the scenes. AtkinsRéalis helped develop new approaches to engineering governance and integration, which had to be fully encompassing of track and train, including the establishment of an integrated Engineering Management Office that strengthened collaboration between the client organisation and technology providers.

We also developed approaches to baseline scope management, assurance and configuration control, creating a framework that ensures requirements are consistently managed across a highly complex programme environment.

In parallel, our experts worked with programme partners to define how a cyber-secure digital railway should be delivered, helping establish processes that improve safety, strengthen resilience and reduce future risks.

Lasting impact for Great British Railways

ECDP is proving that building relationships across the railway, creating shared ownership and accountability and enabling well managed change has been pivotal to successful deployment of technology to date. ECDP is creating an integrated railway that will deliver better outcomes for passengers, freight customers and wider communities.

It is one of the country’s only enhancement projects since the privatisation of the railway where there has been roughly equal spend across track and train parts of the rail. As Railway Systems Integration Partner, AtkinsRéalis is helping to create the operational, engineering and organisational blueprint for future programmes that realise the benefits of track and train integration across Britain.

The lessons learned, relationships established and standards developed through ECDP are already influencing the wider rail industry and supporting the evolution of Great British Railways.