Test Campaign Setup

The essence of a test campaign is that the entire test program, as part of the verification and validation program, meets the requirements of the end customer. That is why test campaigns always start with the definition of the technical and functional objectives by the customer with help of the test organization.

Test Campaign starting points

Many times, technical and functional requirements for railway testing already exist based on national or international V&V specifictions. The same goes for the safety requirements, although a Safety Authority on national level may require additional rules.

In some cases, especially for testing of operations rather than technical systems, functional requirements may have to be defined by the operational parties; such parties may include Traffic Control, Safety Authority, Infrastructure Manager and Train Operating Companies.

On the other side, the customer is influenced by the business reality of risk, time and cost. Most test campaigns are costly (up to 30% of the project cost) and should therefore be considered with these three aspects. Sometimes a fourth aspect, political engagement, can be addressed.

The test organization - lead by the test manager - translates these requirements into a test plan.