Improving Rail Customer Experience Means Going Back to the Maintenance Basics

No customer will be happy if your core transportation service is not running. The foundation of customer satisfaction is a safe, reliable, and comfortable service that gets passengers where they need to be without any surprises.

As you strive to impress increasingly demanding passengers, it is tempting to dive into the world of slick apps and futuristic payments in search of the golden ticket for passenger happiness. But have you been at a train station when service is delayed or canceled, recently? There is no app capable of delighting a commuter who is now late for work or to pick up their kids. (And, they will certainly use Twitter to let you and others know of their frustration.) Real-time passenger information may appease them a little bit by letting them know when their next train may arrive, but this is a case of treating the symptom and not the cause.

It’s time to get back to basics before seeking the slickest and shiniest new customer-facing toy. It’s time to use the tools customers won’t even know about to get your desired results – your enterprise asset management solution.

All Maintenance (Rolling Stock, Linear, Facilities, and Equipment) Needs an Action Plan

Some of the best things your agency/railroad does are behind the scenes. Well done maintenance will never get you credit because the expectation from your riders is that you’ve completed this work anyway. Safety and on-time performance (OTP) are key elements you shouldn’t take for granted – because, let’s face it, your riders don’t.

Therefore, an effective maintenance regime is essential in keeping your rail operations running smoothly. So, how do you do this?

1. Map Out a Maintenance Schedule – Generally, you will have your regularly scheduled maintenance and safety checks – washing of vehicles, fixing non-critical components or assets – but sometimes unexpected things throw wrenches into plans. But if you have your maintenance schedule in place, you get to complete things needed when things run smoothly and have the agility to shift work when something unexpected happens
2. Leverage Telematics – When you are dealing with linear assets, your maintenance staff likely does eye tests at some point in the day. But, you can also monitor with sensors to determine wide gauge or low spot issues on the track, or quicker erosion of individual switch components. Leveraging this tool allows you to be aware of your assets without always having to inspect them manually 
3. Utilize Condition-based Maintenance – If you do have a wide gauge issue on your track, your maintenance of way team is alerted for the corresponding actions (slow zones, fixing the problem – and, if integrated to your traveler information tools, will update your passengers on potential delays)
4. Capitalize on Predictive Maintenance – Let’s say the recommended manufacturing lifespan of a sensor in charge of monitoring speed in your PTC system is three years. Now, using vehicle intelligence, you can use the data captured by your EAM system to see if failures are happening before or much later then the recommended replacement time, giving you the ability to map out your maintenance schedule optimally because you can predict upcoming failures and fix them before they happen

[Learn more about the telematics revolution or how the IIoT can move your asset management to the next level.]

It is also important to remember that all your assets affect the passenger experience, not just linear and rolling stock. Broken ticket vending machines, litter-strewn platforms, and malfunctioning escalators and elevators also drive commuters nuts. ALL asset areas need to have a maintenance action plan to maximize your repairs and minimize any potential downtime in service or customer annoyance.

EAM: The Unsung Hero of Rail Agencies

If you look at any top railroad, you’ll find that an EAM system is the unsung hero of that organization’s efforts to keep its passengers satisfied; not just when it comes to vehicles, but also track, wayside equipment, and infrastructure.

However you use EAM, the most important thing is to avoid any system failure, whether it is one that assures passenger comfort, ride quality, or prevents incidents. While your patrons will probably never see the work you’ve done behind the scenes through an EAM system, they will experience the benefits it brings: safe, comfortable, reliable services that they can count on to get them where they need to be on time, every time.

Passengers Are Our Toughest Critics… But Maybe We Should Be Our Own

You are well aware that there’s no room for error. Commuters can be very unforgiving where delays, cancellations, and safety are concerned. Enough errors in service, repeated inconveniences or inadequate facilities, and passengers will eventually abandon public transportation.

A proper maintenance regime will help you be on-time, limit service disruptions, and, with proper communication if there is an issue, increase your customer satisfaction. If we can’t get these basic things right, then we shouldn’t expect anyone to ride our systems.