This article was first published by New Civil Engineer in September 2026, available here.
With the UK continuing with large scale investments in rail enhancements in the coming years, Alistair Geddes, Rail Sector Director at Costain, explores how enterprise models and an outcomes-led mindset will be crucial in enhancing infrastructure delivery
The delivery of rail infrastructure is never an end in itself. The railway exists to create positive outcomes that come when people and goods can get to where they need to be. These outcomes may be unlocking economic prosperity by connecting homes to jobs, or helping the UK meet its environmental ambitions by providing a lower carbon method of transportation.
Those are the outcomes that matter. Every investment decision, engineering choice and delivery model should be judged on whether it helps achieve them.
All too often, however, the outcomes are forgotten about. Ageing assets, new technologies and changing populations present challenges to the industry, but the need for connecting people to places remains a constant.
Take three critical stages in a rail infrastructure project. A project is commissioned. A decision during the design stage can affect construction. A construction choice can influence how to maintain an asset once complete.
These stages are treated as separate activities of work, are often procured as such and might be passed around different suppliers. The result can be lost knowledge, repeated effort, cultural misfit and wastage. Thinking purely in terms of isolated stages makes it harder to achieve the outcomes that were originally intended.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked on infrastructure projects as varied as the Elizabeth Line, Hinkley Point C and the Olympics, and the most successful programmes have been those where teams stop thinking about organisational boundaries and start thinking about the outcome they are trying to achieve together.
"When organisations align around outcomes, they make better decisions. They recognise the need to be strategic about where to invest resources, ensuring value for money in a world of scarcity."
Alistair Geddes Rail Sector Director at Costain
The good news is that a different way of thinking is emerging. One that moves beyond a traditional transactional, buyer-and-supplier relationship to one built on trust, transparency and shared accountability. Increasingly the industry is adopting an enterprise mindset to deliver the outcomes that come from a railway performing better.
For me, this is one of the most important shifts the rail sector needs to make if the UK is serious about improving productivity, delivering greater value for money and creating a railway that is fit for the future.
Lessons from the wider infrastructure ecosystem
This is not a new idea. Other parts of the infrastructure and construction sector have already shown the benefits of working through enterprise-style arrangements and how such an approach helps organisations come together around shared outcomes, not just individual scopes of work.
The standout example in recent years might be the Thames Tideway Tunnel programme, which embraced an enterprise-style approach by bringing together multiple delivery partners around a shared mission rather than creating isolated project teams. This enabled collaboration, innovation and a stronger focus on whole-programme outcomes. Everyone involved understood the mission. The result? A new asset that has significantly improved the quality of water in the River Thames and will leave a positive legacy for many decades.
"An enterprise-led, outcomes-focused approach to rail infrastructure delivery will also be essential as more powers are devolved to regional authorities. There is a huge opportunity to better align rail investment with local economic priorities and community needs. "
Alistair Geddes Rail Sector Director at Costain
Collaborating to drive efficiency
An effective enterprise model brings together the collective capability of clients, suppliers, designers, operators and communities. It creates an environment where organisations are encouraged to share knowledge, challenge assumptions and solve problems together.
On the delivery side, the enterprise model is a breeding ground for innovation and efficiency, encouraging best practices such as early contractor involvement and value engineering. However, this model can also encourage asset owners to think more carefully about their long-term, strategic priorities. In an interconnected system, rail projects might form the stepping stones for future investment programmes. Just look at the impact the Docklands Light Railway has had on the redevelopment of Canary Wharf, or how the Manchester Bee Network has been a driver for growth and prosperity across the region.
This is central to another key benefit: knowledge and data sharing. The rail sector has access to more information than ever before, but information alone does not create better outcomes. The value comes when that data is used to standardise engineering elements, improve asset performance and identify issues early, reducing disruption or supporting more efficient maintenance. It’s about being able to make informed decisions that drive safety, efficiency and decarbonisation.
The lesson from these examples is clear: when organisations align around outcomes, they make better decisions. They recognise the need to be strategic about where to invest resources, ensuring value for money in a world of scarcity.
Delivering better local outcomes
An enterprise-led, outcomes-focused approach to rail infrastructure delivery will also be essential as more powers are devolved to regional authorities. There is a huge opportunity to better align rail investment with local economic priorities and community needs. It requires local authorities to work in close collaboration with asset owners and delivery partners, ensuring that funding is certain and decisions are made swiftly without additional layers of complexity.
Local leaders are often best placed to understand how targeted investment can deliver the transportation outcomes that are most needed for their communities. There are good examples of this. Operating under the Welsh Government’s long-term plan for transport, Llwybr Newydd, Transport for Wales has placed convenience, decarbonisation and modernisation at the heart of its plans. And Transport for London demonstrates what can be achieved when strategic planning, operations and long-term investment are aligned with clear outcomes.
Enterprise models are not a solution to every challenge. They require commitment, openness and a willingness to work differently. But the direction of travel is clear. The challenges ahead, whether that’s decarbonisation, building resilience into our transportation network, improving productivity or delivering better value for money, cannot be solved through traditional approaches alone.
The early signs are positive, and an outcomes-focused, collaborative mindset is increasingly evident, but this needs to be sustained if the sector is to deliver infrastructure that is fit for purpose and improves the lives of the millions of users dependent on a reliable rail service day in, day out.
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