RELIABILITY EVALUATION OF MODERN RAILWAY SYSTEMS

In the railway industry, the safety aspect is the key element when developing and installing one equipment, but the reliability has somehow always been secondly placed. It is acceptable for a component or equipment to fail, if it fails in a safe manner such it does not cause any hazards. As a result, the reliability, although always considered and evaluated, has not received the same focus as the safety. As the modern systems are increasingly complex, and the customer requirements are more stringent in terms of availability of the railway network, the reliability must receive a greater focus when railway products are being developed. The paper presents how the complex modern railway systems can be evaluated in terms of reliability and how to focus on achieving the highest availability and reliability, satisfying the rail users whilst keeping the same level of integrity.