Applying asset management concepts in East Asia railways

The main Author has over 17 years of railway operations and consulting experience in East Asia. He observed that the railway operators in the region share high degree of similarities due to demographic issue. Some metro operators outperform worldwide operators in spite of their relatively young age. In contrast to their recognized service performance, some may find that asset management is a new concept to them and their business. Most of them benchmark with the international best practices, especially those that have adopted such as ISO55000/PAS55. However, the degree of implementation is inevitably affected by the social characteristics where these operators are located. This paper aims to illustrate the phenomenon observed from these operators when they tried to incorporate Asset Management into their management system. Topics such as organization structure and hierarchy, staff's attitude and mind-set, acceptance level of Asset Management, decision making and corporate strategic target that impact AM are discussed. In summary, the paper addresses the interesting aspects of a newly developed international standard being applied in East Asia Railway operations, i.e. cultural, economic and social.