Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP)

Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) is a management and control process developed by Network Rail for delivering projects on the operational railway. Issue 2 of the GRIP Policy Standard (NR/L1/INI/PM/GRIP/100) was published on 3 March 2012.

GRIP was developed to minimise and mitigate the risks associated with projects to enhance or renew the operational railway and projects in a high street environment. It is based on best practice within industries that undertake major infrastructure projects and practice recommended by the bodies including the Association of Project Management (APM) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

GRIP is product rather than process driven and divides projects into eight distinct stages:

1. Output definition.
2. Feasibility.
3. Option selection.
4. Single option development.
5. Detailed design.
6. Construction test and commission.
7. Scheme hand back.
8. Project close out.

Formal reviews examine the project at critical stages in its lifecycle to provide assurance that it can successfully progress to the next stage.

NB GRIP is being replaced by PACE (Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment) due to concerns that GRIP its bureaucracy and linear process were too inflexible. PACE introduces a model based on principles rather than rules. Network Rail suggest that PACE; ‘… allows project managers to adapt their approach, make decisions that best meet the needs of their project and overlay stages while maintaining rigour.’

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