East West Rail is a £7bn programme to build a new line between Oxford and Cambridge. The team wanted new techniques and technologies that could significantly cut construction costs and shorten the build.
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Case study · East West Rail
Taking cost out of a £7bn rail programme
We ran a breakthrough industry innovation event to help a major UK infrastructure programme reduce the cost of construction.
- Infrastructure
- UK
- Open innovation
8-figure
CAPEX reduction opportunities identified
Challenge
How we helped
We designed and ran the Trackathon, two industry innovation events:
- More than 50 rail industry professionals refined six construction challenge statements.
- More than 30 startups, technology companies and suppliers pitched solutions to those challenges.
We then analysed the costs, benefits and operational implications for each challenge, and recommended the suppliers to take forward to proof of concept.
Outcome
We identified eight-figure CAPEX reduction opportunities across the prioritised suppliers. East West Rail is now engaging them for further testing.
Sparksfly delivered a brilliant industry event, the outcomes of which will drive cost out of our construction programme.