Assessment Body Services

NCB’s assessment supports the safe delivery of your project and we can provide you with value adding information and feedback throughout your project life cycle.

What is an Assessment Body?

All changes to railways are required to be supported by a risk assessment process to manage safety risks. Any significant changes to main line railways require an independent safety assessment report to support the outputs of the risk assessment. NCB provides safety assessment reports for changes to infrastructure, rail vehicles, railway operations and also for service affecting organisational changes.

Why choose NCB?

NCB is a subsidiary of Network Rail and began operating in 2012 to meet the emerging need for safety assessments to be provided by an independent body. In 2015 NCB was among the first assessment bodies in the UK to be formally accredited for this service by UKAS.

Since 2012 NCB has issued several hundred safety assessment reports, that have been used by our clients to support the commissioning of their projects. NCB can also issue interim reports at intermediate project delivery stages to provide clients with up to date status information that can de-risk the development prior to the final commissioning stage.

What does the assessment process involve?

Railway change projects are required to appoint an assessment body at the earliest appropriate stage of the risk assessment process, which may be even before the option selection section stage is complete. NCB produces an assessment body plan at the start of their engagement which will indicate the types of evidence that is expected to be submitted for assessment.

Assessed projects:

  • Network Rail projects – signalling, electrification, civils, stations
  • HS2 projects
  • Dunbar New Down Platform
  • North West Electrification Programme (NWEP)
  • Gospel Oak to Barking
  • Midland Mainline Upgrade
  • Birmingham New St Resignalling Phase 6
  • Derby Station Area Remodelling
  • Edinburgh Gateway Improvement Programme (EGIP)
  • Stevenage Turnback Project
  • Barnt Green to Bromsgrove Electrification
  • Wessex Capacity
  • East West Rail Phase 2
  • CAF Caledonian Sleeper
  • Borders Railway