During my couple decades in IT- programmer, project manager, etc., first thing you did for a project or program was to talk to the people who would be getting it - what do they need and want, what they currently have that they like or don't like, etc. IMHO, buying new locos that those who will operate them have not had significant input into is beyond absurd, and as the primary users, they should be involved in the entire process. At 'project end', there should always be a 'what's next' review, and those reviews should happen again periodically as you get used to using what the project was for, and to plan ahead for what you'd need next time around. Granted, that with the politics, you frequently have no idea of what resources you will have in the future, but the better a loco is designed and built the more you can get out of it.