The Needs of the Business and the Operator

The Business, or Operating Company running a Metro system has responsibility for providing value for money. Goals and objectives may be set by outside bodies, or by the company itself. In meeting these goals the company must aim to secure the best overall fit to customer requirements given current resources and constraints. In London Underground, Project Sponsors are appointed to control projects in the interest of the Business and its customers. The role of the Sponsor runs through project development and approval to monitoring and control of implementation. The London Underground terminology will be used in this paper to refer to this role, which may exist under a different description in other Railway companies.