Page 100 - Performance Leadership

Chapter 6 One Version of the Truth • 89

130 trains, traffic control sees 230 trains (including maintenance
trains). There is also a financial relationship between the infrastructure
company and the railway operators (who need to pay for use of the
infrastructure). However, this is not based on trains, but “slots.” The
number of trains and the number of slots may not always be the same—
instead of 130 trains, there may be 140 slots. Undoubtedly, within each
viewpoint such as infrastructure, scheduling, operations, and so on,
there are additional multiple definitions catering for specific excep-
tions—namely historical factors, lack of alignment, and other causes.
See Table 6.4.
Working with this single context of the truth has a number of imme-
diate advantages. It eliminates a great deal of overlapping reports, each
with slightly different definitions without broader context. In reducing
the number of reports, the horizontal alignment approach provides a
benchmark of which definitions ought to be unique and recognized and
which ones can be eliminated. For each step in the value chain, there
is logic in having a specific definition, if that is needed. However, within
steps of the value chain it doesn’t make much sense having multiple
definitions, and redundant ones can be eliminated. Definitions that do
not fit in the value chain probably need to be eliminated as well.
Moreover, through a horizontal alignment approach, the definitions
have become more transparent and comparable. There is value in ana-
lyzing the differences. It is important to minimize the difference
between the demand plan and the operations. The difference is in
planning efficiencies and the number of incidents and accidents. The
closer the number, the more optimized the plan is. Then the difference

Table 6.4

Stakeholder Number of Trains
Passenger 1,000 trips or 2,500 trains
Demand 100 trains, of which 90 are for the railway company
Railway company planning 120 trains
Staff planning 200 shifts with 400 trains
Railway operations 130 trains
Infrastructure planning 200 trains of which 120 are for the one railway company
Slots 220 slots of which 140 are for the one railway company