Maintenance is equally valuable for the Siemens Velaro trains, passing through temperatures ranging from -50°C to +40°C on the Moscow-St Petersburg route, but achieving more than 99 percent reliability. One aspect of this is diagnostics, using onboard monitoring. There are up to 60 sensors per train constantly relaying data on the condition of train components online to a service center. There, systems translate this into requirements for preventive maintenance, which can happen when the train enters its depot, with no interruption to service.
Another aspect is efficient spare parts provision. Siemens’ World Distribution Center near Frankfurt can have a required component ready at a train depot in Spain less than seven hours after receiving the order from the Spanish rail operator. The center ships 50,000 items annually.
The common platform
These examples are part of Siemens Mobility’s integrated approach to maintenance – the common Remote Service Platform (cRSP). This involves taking account of maintenance needs when manufacturing, as well as feeding back all data generated through maintenance into improved product design. Maintenance-related know-how is also built through a network that combines academies and testing centers with the service centers.
The cRSP’s driving spirit is proaction, rather than reaction, and the result is savings for clients as much as improved reliability for transport users. Siemens knows that prevention is better than cure.