Analysing Leadership & Management in the Crossrail Project

This report provides an overview of the Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) project, a major railway infrastructure initiative in London. It examines the project's development, including its initial conception, planning, and execution phases, as well as challenges such as delays and budget increases. The report delves into the project's lifecycle, from initiation to closure, highlighting key aspects like stakeholder identification, risk management, and performance monitoring. Furthermore, the report assesses the leadership strategies employed throughout the project, emphasizing the importance of effective leadership in guiding teams, motivating individuals, and ensuring project success. It also evaluates the project's performance against its initial goals, considering its impact on business strategy and competitive advantage. The analysis covers the project's benefits, such as increased passenger capacity, reduced travel times, and economic contributions, while also addressing the challenges faced during its implementation.

Project and Programme
Management-
Cross Rail

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Project overview..........................................................................................................................3
Project development....................................................................................................................4
Project delay...............................................................................................................................5
Project life cycle..........................................................................................................................6
Development of the suitable leadership plan for achieving the goals-.......................................7
Assessment of the performance of Cross Rail project.................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Project management is the application of particular tools, techniques, skills and
knowledge for the achievement of set goals regarding any project. Simply, it is the management
of all those activities which undergo while pursuing a project (Zwikael and Smyrk, 2019). For
effective management of any project, there should be proper guidance to the individuals involved
in it. Proper guidance can be only provided by a good leader. A leader should have essential
leadership skills such as: inspiring, guiding, motivating and others so that there will be a good
management of teams (Xuetong, 2019). Cross rail – Elizabeth Line London, UK, is the chosen
project for this report. This report will cover the life cycle of a project and innovative approaches
in project management. There will be an evaluation of relationship between effective techniques
of project management, leadership, implementing project and project planning. There will be a
detailed history, development, delay and others about the chosen project that is Cross rail –
Elizabeth Line. This report will also cover the evaluation of contemporary project management
practices and leadership styles in an organisation. At last there is an evaluation of performance of
the project in context to criteria's impact at business strategy and competitive advantage.
MAIN BODY
 Project overview
Cross rail limited company is responsible for the construction of this new Elizabeth line
railway project, London. It is the biggest railway infrastructure project in Europe and approx ten
thousands of people from around UK have contributed in its construction, delivery and
maintenance of Elizabeth line (Wolmar, 2018). It is categorising as mega project as there is
much cost, size and complexity in this project. It is perfect mega project in context to
sustainability as there are new approaches and correct ways preferred in this project. It is very
challenging for project executives and stakeholders as they are choosing new approaches. There
is use of innovations in this project and the executives keep in mind about the sustainability
avoiding risks.
This project will be in east west Elizabeth line railway across London. There is
construction of ten new stations, out of which two are underground. There is a tunnel of 42 km,
related depots and other facilities for its maintenance. There was £15.8 billion cost as initial

investment for the construction from 2008 to 2019. This new line will increase the capacity of
passengers in London and result as £42 billion benefit to UK's economy. As it is a project
regarding public transport, there will be following outcomes for Cross rail:
 It prevents overcrowding at the existing underground stations of trains.
 There is an increment in the capacity of rails in London by 10%.
 There is less time consumption in London trip as it puts 1.5 million people together in 45
minutes’ distance of London. There will approx. 200 million passengers of Cross line per
year who used to travel. There will be a connection of twin tunnels which are approx. 21
km distance in London.
UK's government contributed by 60% as funding in the construction of this project and
remaining 40% funding was there by TFL. There was a budget of £15.9 billion for delivering the
Cross rail project but it was decreases to £14.8 billion by 2010. The underground and over
ground length of this line was 118 km where commerce, business and transport hubs are
connecting. It was the reason for the direct connection in between Heathrow airport with London
commercial heart in Oxford Street and London hubs. The project was owned and managed by
companies having private sector board but funded by public sector. The funds were collected in
parts by special tax applicable at businesses in London. Firms such as: City of London,
Heathrow and others who will getting direct benefit from the project, also did small
contributions. There was also a need for more investment in 2018 of about £15.4. Hence, there is
increment in the final cost of project by its completion. The construction and designing of this
project shows an example of complex programs for managing contract set up required in the
delivery of infrastructure and systems. There were approx. 23 model structure contracts and 80
logistics contracts assigned by Cross Rail Ltd.
Project development
As it is known, Elizabeth line is one of the oldest and busiest railway line in London. The
starting of delivery of this project was considered to be risky to the contractors as it was such as
huge project. It was also rejected initially as there were increment in the costs due to
uncertainties. Later on there is the management of risks and there were expert solutions for
particular problems which gives a chance to the project to start. There was regular measurement
of its performance through “Performance Assurance Framework”. It was helpful in sharing
information and enhancing knowledge. There was a need for acquisition of the detailed

evaluation of project's performance in every six months (Williams and Excell, 2018). Cross rail
followed the conventional method of construction management in which the design, main
structure and construction packages of projects were included. There were six key functions for
the delivery of this project:
 Commercial
 Health and safety
 Community relation
 Quality
 Social sustainability Environment
Project delay
As it could be anticipating that there may be delay in the completion of this project due to
its big size and enhanced budget, there was a delay of approx. a year in the termination of this
project. The issue of time was common in such huge projects as there are various kinds of
problems and risks involved such as: financial issue, lack of proper understanding, delay in
construction work, unavailability of workers and many more. Such kind of problems were also
occurred in this project. There was announcement that the project will be completed by 2018 and
it shifted to 2019. This delay occurred due to the size of the project. The big size of the project
results in the lack of proper raw material. There was more need for raw material for the
construction of this line which resulted in the increment of budget and the announced date was
passed. There were a lot of confusions about the date for opening of this line after the announced
date passed (Chodorowski, Ingram and Black, 2021). The complexity of project was proved by
four different systems of signals of rail and the collection of high technology trains. There was
also a doubt that may be this project will not be completed due to the problem in construction
management and the increased budget. But later on proper budget planning and management
came in to force. This was the reason of completion of the project. After a delay of one year due
to certain problems and risks, the announcement of the opening of Cross rail was announced and
the project was completed.
Project life cycle
The project life cycle is divided into four parts that is initiation, planning, execution and
closure of the project. This phases of the project management determines the path to start and

end the project. In context with cross rail project, the project is all about the construction of a
railway line in central London. In London, the cross rail Elizabeth line is constructed to provide
the transport facility for the people. The project life of Elizabeth cross rail line is discussed
below;
 Initiation: This phase is used to find out the business problems and the opportunities in
order to figure out the projects objectives. This includes the feasibility study about the
project, identifying stakeholders, statement of work and many other things. It determines
whether this project is appropriate or not and it deliver the main objectives of the project.
The cross rain is the Elizabeth railway line project which is a biggest project of Europe.
The main aim of the project is to render the high frequency and rapid transit crossing
from suburbs on west to east. This project includes the main terminating line: western
main line and eastern main line.
 Planning: This is the second phase of a project life cycle. This phase breaks out the large
project into smaller task. The team is build, scheduled is prepared overall planning,
budget is set in order to start the project. This stage ensures about the time frame in which
the project is to be achieved. The Cross rail project includes the 10 new stations and
tunnel of 42 km. The fund for this project is required £15.8 billion. The timeline for this
project is 2008 to 2019. but this project got delayed. The capacity of the train to carry the
approx. 200 passengers. For this project the 23 model frameworks and the 8- contracts of
logistics were assigned (Rumane, 2019).
 Execution: Now this is the stage where the planned project is going to be implemented.
In order to keep the work on track, manage the time framework, organize team member
and ensure the work process according to the planned process. It includes the assigning of
task, briefing about task, monitoring, managing budget and many more. The cross rail
line, the expertize were appointed to control and manage the project. Due to some
contingency cost and uncertainty the cost of the project was increased. The construction
of this project was started in the 2009. the new railway line was build underground from
Paddington station to Whitechapel nearest junction.
 Monitoring and Controlling: This is the phase at which the planned project is get on the
trial. At this phase the implemented project has been monitored for several times and then
the rises problems and issues are controlled. At this stage, the actual project is compared

with the planned project and then it has been controlled and monitored. The Elizabeth
line commenced their trial operation at the first half of the year and at this stage the trial
was conducted according to the time table. It helps to ensure about the safety of the
public as the railways is used by most of the public. Established in the year 2013
framework of performance assurance has assisted the 54% enhancement in the
improvement in performance across chain of supply with various contractors showing
ability for going beyond minimum contracted standards and deliver the value addition or
the performance of world class. This way of contract measuring the whole performance
enhancement through projects life on the basis of balanced scorecard, aided for driving
behaviors which the Cross Rail Ltd. Wishing for motivating. With minimum
customization amount, centrally held the warehouse of data which the key for the
successful cycle of reporting which runs on the four-week basis of rolling periodic and
aids the data reports production, consisting the requirements of ad hoc out of process of
normal business.
 Closure: The last stage of the project life cycle is closure. It refers to end of the project in
which the final outcomes were attain. This stage delivers the final results, release the
project resources and also determine the project success. The final outcome of the cross
rail Elizabeth line was:
◦ It helps to relieve the crowd in exists underground train services.
◦ It increases the additional 10% capacity of rail lines.
◦ Reduces the travelling distance in London. And carries the 1.5 million of people in 45
minute across the London district.

Detailed procurement of design
Procurement of designing the framework was on the basis of philosophy with clearly
defined scope and liability of design by sitting with the consultants. They were accountable for
the packages of location specific or the disciplines of technicalities across the various contracts.
Employers design was procured directly by the Cross rail contracting with consultants of design
and got awarded by orders of work package which were issued under framework agreements.
Package orders and framework were altered versions of NEC3 Professional Services Contract
and managed by the engineers and executives of the project within group of chief engineer.
Activities were instructed by the use of work orders by having defined scope and delivery dates
for supporting construction programme.
Plan of Design management- In the initial designing of framework all consultants and designers
have to fulfil the standard plan of design management as follows-
- Applied baseline standards and route for demonstrating the compliance
- Chart of organization and accountabilities

- Matrix of skills and staff competencies level
- Definition of scope and identification of interface
- Projected results and defined deliverables
- Stated procedures and process for ensuring acceptable assurance quality and maintained
records
- Process for ensuring the compliance with system of engineering safety
- Process of design review, interdisciplinary and single review on the basis of review at +
20%, +60% and 100% completion of design
Geotechnical information and reports of baseline
Significance of high standard, comprehensive, correct geotechnical information of project
for controlling the ground related risks which can’t be over emphasised. Efforts spend on the
investigations led in using the parameters of representative geotechnical by design consultants
and identification of main risks of geotechnical. It’s a testament for the careful management
which the project had no crucial issues. Cross rail provided the reports of geotechnical baseline
as contract baseline of the geological conditions. Consultants of the framework design produced
the series of reports for informing reports of baseline.

Design safety
Entire strategy and approach which was mandated in life cycle of project set out in safety
plan of engineering safety system. All the designers were needed for providing the evidence of
assurance that the information of design complied with the obligations under construction
regulations such as (CDM) Regulations (HMG, 2015) and Workplace (Health Safety and
Welfare, 1992). Designers were needed to eliminate the hazards where it was possible and
reduce the construction, operations and maintenance of the risks to be very low as practically
reasonable (ALARP). In the Cross Rail project design safety was provided as follows-
- Assurance of individual level competence- every framework consultant undertook the
assessments of competency for entire staff before engaging.
- Elimination of hazards and risk mitigation in design and interfaces was achieved by using
live registers of risks and by using the health, safety and environment info on the SHE
boxes.
- Ensure design for satisfying the requirements of project.

For construction work of tunnels and underground Joint Code of Practice for managing the
Tunnel Works in UK gave benchmark for identifying and allocating the risks.
Environment management, sustainability & consent
Cross rail was required for developing and implementing the system of environmental
management. Designers were needed to confirm that the design was complied with Crossrial
Act, including demonstrating the parliament commitments compliance. Planning of project,
consents of environment and traffic were required and obtained on time for avoiding the delay in
programme and for ensuring compliance.
Document control and computer aided designs and 3D models
In the entire project 3 various management systems of documents were used by the
designers of Cross Rail. System of document numbering was on the basis of London
Underground made standards and BS 1192. Final document system was used for project was of
Enterprise Bridge by Bentley, which was essential in the contracts of constructions. Entire
framework design and documents of assurance were identified in the list of master deliverable
for every contract. Permanent works computer models drawings and models were in accordance
to design aided by computer by the use of system of electronic content management which
includes the BS 1192 approved work flows for managing and recording the process of digital
design production.
- Building the information modelling- Cross Rail opted the building information
modelling level 2 in project for connecting electronically by different 3D models made
by consultants with information of asset and project. It gives consistent project vast
approach to flow and information production.

- Temporary design of work- It consists of methodology and sequencing which is
contractor’s responsibility. Employers permanent work designers have the obligation,
consider and identification of specific measures essential for safe implementing of
designs. Temporary work was designed and assurance against in house procedures. Cross
Rai produced the procedure of temporary works for ensuring the consistent approach
across different contracts.
- Division of responsibility- For sprayed concrete lining tunnels, relationships among
permanent work of lining and sequencing and methodology were linked inherently in the
design of project.
Design Control- Projects standards baseline was list of approved standards of design,
commissioning and construction. Standard baseline was the combination of British and
European standards and practices codes, including project standards of civil engineering
design and of Network Rail and London Underground and fixed when the RIBA stage D was
constructed.
Process of Design Review- It comprises of gate, design and readiness reviews.
 Design Reviews- This process covered preparation and attendance at the single and
interdisciplinary reviews. Latter was attended by group of Chief Engineer, CDM
coordinator, consultants of framework design and third party which even includes the
maintainers of infrastructure.
 Gate Reviews- Designs were subjected to the 3 stage gate review