TYPICAL JOB TITLES: Operational Planning Assistant, Operational Planner, Schedule Compiler, Train Planner, Line Reliability Support Analyst, Reliability Analyst, Support Reliability Analyst and Performance Information Administrator.
Industry sector: Transport (Bus, Coach and Rail) Level: This apprenticeship is set at level 2
Duration: Minimum of 12 months (and typically 12-18 months) Review period: 36 months
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: Those working within Network Operations support the safe and efficient operation of the bus, coach and rail transport networks. Adhering to rigorous rules and guidelines, which comply with commercial and legal frameworks, Network Operators design, develop and monitor the performance of timetables and transport services ensuring they meet the requirements of stakeholders and customers.
Network Operators will be required to work closely with, front-line operations managers, engineers, business support functions and stakeholders. Their role contributes to the operational effectiveness and integrity of the UK transport network.
Those working within Network Operations may be required to work in a small control location, a major operations control room or a head office.
This apprenticeship adopts a core and options approach to allow flexibility for employers and enable transferability between roles and employers for apprentices. The core content includes safety, quality and customer service, the apprentice will then follow one of the following specialist pathways: Scheduler or Network Performance Operator.
Schedulers: are responsible for the design and development of operating plans/timetables for vehicles, bus, coach and/or train-crew duties and operational staff rosters for day-to-day, temporary and emergency operations, and short-term service changes in response to disruption or to enable work on projects, maintenance and upgrades for future services. Schedulers are responsible for delivering solutions to service stakeholders such as: commercial managers, specifiers, operations and engineering managers, and will collaborate with front-line staff, network operators and others involved in the scheduling process, e.g. diagram planners for crew and vehicles. Schedule designers work with time and performance information from specifications, historic data, and observations of real-time or simulated services, and will review and validate their solutions against existing services, business requirements, customer expectations and standards, contracts and service charters.
Network Performance Operators: are responsible for monitoring the performance of services on a transport network and identify when services are not running to plan such as: failures, events and incidents, escalating to stakeholders to take appropriate action. Network Performance Operators will capture and monitor data such as: reliability of services, delay information and analysing data for trends to support management to make improvements to performance, safety and financial efficiencies. Network Performance Operators will analyse data following investigation of incidents capturing lessons learnt to improve future performance and/or response to prevent reoccurrence. Summary of Standard https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/network-operations/ Full Standard https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/media/1494/network_operations_assessment_plan_-_final_for_publication_nov_17.pdf
