Japan’s railways are famous for their punctuality, Switzerland has built a network around reliable connections, and France has developed one of Europe’s leading high-speed systems. So what are these countries doing differently, and what could the other countries learn?
David Martin, Managing Director at aerospace tooling supplier HEAMAR explains how engineering investment, specialist tooling and preventative maintenance can influence the reliability of a railway, and what we could learn.
What can the world’s best railways teach us about reliability?
“When you look at some of the world’s most reliable railway systems, one of the things that stands out is the amount of planning that goes into maintaining them.
“Passengers judge a railway by whether their train arrives on time, but that depends on a huge amount of infrastructure working properly in the background.
“Track, signalling, electrical systems and rolling stock all experience wear over time, especially on heavily used networks. The key is identifying that wear early and dealing with it before it causes failure or disruption.
“Japan is a good example of this approach. Punctuality is taken very seriously, so there is a strong focus on detailed inspection and preventative maintenance, with engineers looking for potential problems before they affect the service.”
Why is Japan’s railway system so punctual?
“Japan has developed a strong culture around precision and consistency, which is reflected in the way its railways are maintained. When services are closely coordinated, even a small delay can have consequences, so there is a real incentive to identify issues early.
“That approach is relevant because our railway is also dealing with very high levels of usage. If infrastructure is constantly being used, relying on repairs after something has gone wrong can create further disruption and put additional pressure on the network.
“Preventative maintenance gives engineers a better opportunity to deal with problems, while they’re still manageable.”
What makes Switzerland’s railway network so reliable?
“Switzerland has designed its railway around connections between different parts of the network, so reliability has to be considered across the system rather than on individual routes.
“When trains are scheduled to connect, a small delay can affect passengers further down the line. Regular inspection and maintenance therefore become especially important, as engineers have more opportunity to schedule work before a fault becomes an unexpected disruption.
“It is a good example of why maintenance needs to be planned over the long term rather than simply responding when something breaks.”
How has France developed such a successful high-speed network?
“France has made a long-term investment in high-speed rail, developing infrastructure specifically capable of supporting trains travelling at those speeds.
“Track condition and alignment become particularly important, while signalling, electrical systems and rolling stock all have to operate to a very high standard.
“When trains are travelling very quickly, relatively small engineering issues can become more significant, so maintenance has to be carried out to precise specifications.”
Why has Britain struggled to keep pace?
“The UK has an extremely complex railway, much of which has developed over many decades. Different types of infrastructure and signalling systems exist alongside one another, while some parts of the network are carrying very high levels of traffic.
“That makes maintenance difficult because engineers often need access to infrastructure that is expected to remain operational.
“There has also been a tendency for rail investment to focus on things passengers can see, such as new trains and station improvements, while the less visible work of maintaining track, signalling and electrical systems receives less attention.”
Tech could help move towards preventative maintenance
“Condition monitoring and predictive maintenance could make a massive difference because they give operators more information about what is happening to infrastructure between scheduled inspections.
“Monitoring equipment can identify changes in things such as vibration, temperature or component wear, giving engineers an opportunity to investigate before a problem develops into a failure.
“The tech does not replace engineering experience, though. Someone still needs to understand what the data means and decide what action is required. Combining better monitoring with experienced maintenance teams could allow Britain to become more proactive about managing its infrastructure.”
They are missing a number of big points about the UK Railways, according to Eamonn Maloney BSc Hons CEng MRailEI, Joint Managing Director, Cairn International Trade Centre, who commented: “All of the other Rail Systems that are being cited today as whoopee doo where built / enhanced massively after World War II and benefited massively from a combination of taking significant American Investment for the redevelopment of Europe and Japan.
Ironically – the UK as a “winner” did not get that same access to redevelopment funding and in reality, was and is massively in debt to the Americans (even now).
UK Railways were built on Victorian principles of linking towns together to move trade goods faster than canals – not for moving people initially, but the UK’s dense population makes it impossible to replicate what France can do in terms of national track geometry – ditto for Japan once you leave the mega cities and even in Japan’s case, every major coastal city was flattened by the Americans allowing the US rebuilding programme in the late 40s and 50s to allow them to build very straight railway alignments out of their renewed city centres (ditto Germany too).
In Switzerland’s case – they benefited massively as the worlds banker and have a brilliant combination of being one of the richest countries per head of population for nearly anywhere in world combined with a fantastic education system and the ability to being natural genius level at Railway Construction, Operations & Maintenance.
UK is bankrupt and has been for the last 15 years – I think that Network Rail has achieved miracles to keep that Railway Network moving to the extent that it has with fuck all money to invest in comparative terms to the likes of the Swiss, French and the Japanese.
Germany Railways were in serious decline, and you wouldn’t have expected that – would you? they now need to spend Billions just to get back up to scratch.