Rail E-ssentials

More and more train operators have to deal with ageing assets and increasing requirements which put pressure on their decision about the operation and maintenance of their metros. A decision has to be made on whether to purchase new trains or to refurbish them. At the TÜV SÜD Lighthouse Lite Event in

Singapore on 19 October TÜV SÜD experts and experts from the TÜV SÜD subsidiary SIGNON addressed this question in a panel discussion with various operators and evaluated the related challenges and impacts.

Train operators across the globe are seeking to maximise the value of their metro trains in service while keeping costs at a minimum. They face a lot of challenges during operational lifetime of their rail vehicles like increase in number and quality of rolling stock, faster signalling system, increase in safety and service requirements or end of concession. However, ageing assets and the increasing requirements put pressure on the operation and maintenance for metro operators. At the end of the lifetime operators face the challenge to modernise or maintain their rolling stock. A decision has to be made on whether to purchase new trains or rather to refurbish them, but a lot of questions remain open for the operator.

At the Lighthouse Lite Event - Purchase or Refurbish? Cost-effective up-keeping of your ageing fleet - on the 19 October 2016 in Singapore, TÜV SÜD experts as well as experts from SIGNON, were addressing the challenges and amongst others several related questions in a panel discussion with various Operators:

• How do we evaluate and extend the lifetime of our rolling stock?
• How do we optimise our operations and maintenance?
• What needs to be done to get our new vehicles purchased, commissioned and approved?
• What is the impact of new / refurbished rolling stock on our existing system? How do we evaluate these consequences?
• How do we deal with uncertainty and unknown risks in quality and operations?

In an open and competent panel discussion and personal talks at the subsequent networking diner the rolling stock refurbishment process and method from the ‘condition assessment’ to the final ‘validation’, the connected technical criteria and the effects of the rolling stock refurbishment on other disciplines and sub systems were discussed in a very friendly atmosphere.

The Lighthouse Lite Event – Purchase or refurbish? took place in Singapore in parallel to the LTA-UITP Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition (SITCE). Together with SIGNON TÜV SÜD had a booth at the exhibition and Dr. Matthias Müth, Project Manager and Senior Advisor at SIGNON Deutschland GmbH talked about „Risk Assessment in the Course of Redesign of LRT Stations“ at the Transport Forum: Innovation in Rail Maintenance and Rail Technology.

More information about our refurbishment services you can find here.