LAST year SNCF introduced a unified computer system to manage the maintenance of its locomotive fleet. Known as Lionne, it replaced a system called Badem dating from 1987 to which several other applications had been grafted in an attempt to update it.
Lionne was piloted at several sites before national launch, giving maintenance staff and managers real-time access to a national database. Offering flexibility and a better graphical interface for users, Lionne provides information on fleet availability at 80 locations across the network.
Further improvements are envisaged when Lionne is extended in June 2007.