You are the Operations and Train Planning Director of a Train Operating company. You have the task of identifying what resources are needed to operate a service in the following circumstances. There is a simple route from station A to station J with intermediate stations at B,C,D,E,F,G,H and I. The station dwell time is 2 minutes and the travel time between each of the stations is 5 minutes. You must allow 5 minutes for trains to turn back at each of the terminal stations. The layout of points at the terminal stations is such that there will be no conflicts when trains are running on time. The maximum forecast demand on this route is to move 16,500 people per hour between D and E in the morning peak. Trains are made up of 8 cars and can carry a maximum of 1000 people, including those standing. For planning purposes you must assume that the best loading you will be able to achieve is 85% of maximum capacity.

Q- Discuss the systems issues that you would need to address if a 60 second reduction in dwell time were found to make a significant difference in the resource needs (whether or not it does in the example above). Include within your discussion a definition of what is meant by systems engineering and list at least six different stakeholders that would need to [25] be thought about and or consulted if such a change was to be introduced.