UK: Responsibility for heavy maintenance, future maintenance optimisation and the enhancement of West Midlands Trains’ Bombardier Transportation Class 172 diesel multiple-units has been transferred from the operator to Porterbrook.
The leasing company said this ‘new, more collaborative’ way of working would build on the quality and performance improvements which had been achieved during a year-long pilot scheme where it had used maintenance optimisation and remote condition monitoring to provide additional support beyond the standard train leasing arrangements.
Data analytics developed during the trial showed that 70% of engine failures could be predicted in advance of a service-affecting failure, and work is now underway to increase this proportion.
‘By working collaboratively with West Midlands Trains, utilising digital technology and drawing on the asset knowledge of our own engineers we can jointly reduce costs and provide a step improvement in rolling stock reliability that will benefit passengers’, said Porterbrook CEO Mary Grant on November 9.
