Design for maintenance

The evolution of rolling stock design has produced ever increased performance in terms of speed, load capacity, passenger comfort and facilities. Much of this progress has been brought about by developments in electrical engineering and especially in electronics. Modern stock contains many "black boxes" which require no adjustment or attention. However, a discussion with maintenance staff will often reveal a dislike for much of the new technology. True, the level of routine replacement and checking may well have reduced, and many traditional components will operate more reliably and for longer periods between overhaul, but the maintenance free black boxes referred to above show a distressing tendency to fail without warning, causing considerable disruption to service. Moreover, the diagnosis and correction of the fault is often far more difficult. The maintainer will often criticise the designer for the use of such unreliable and intractable equipment. If challenged, the designer may well respond by claiming that the maintainer is inadequately equipped or trained to deal with the sophisticated equipment the end user demands. This paper seeks to introduce each to the other's problems, in order that it may be better understood how both can contribute to improving the quality of service provided.