State-of-the-art in managing reliability in mega railway projects. A systematic literature review

Abstract

Mega Railway Projects (MRPs) are expensive and account for an increasing percentage of many a nation’s annual infrastructure expenditure. These MRPs frequently exceed their budget and schedule. The challenge of achieving reliability or availability targets stands out as a contributing factor to these overruns. A robust and targeted Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) process, which covers systems and subsystems that comprise the railway, that is imbedded in the project from the outset and that is managed throughout the life cycle of the project, is crucial for success. However, a RAM process for MRPs is not readily available. While BS EN 50126-1¹ sets out the required RAM related tasks there is no guidance on how these tasks are to be undertaken or managed. This omission is likely to increase the challenge faced by RAM or Systems engineers as they put forth their case for ring-fenced funds and labour at the outset of an MRP. It is therefore important that RAM on an MRP is reviewed so that next steps in developing robust RAM process plan guidelines can be determined. The authors of this paper discuss why RAM is undertaken and the conceptualisation of RAM along with its fundamental features. Its application on railways focusing on RAM techniques and BS EN 50126-1 is outlined. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is undertaken to show the state-of-the-art by using a meta and content analysis within the context of railway systems, RAM techniques, RAM standards and Reliability levels. Furthermore, a set of Derived RAM requirements (DRR) based on BS EN 50126-1 are derived to determine the critical areas of RAM and are thus recommended for further development by researchers or RAM practitioners.

Keywords:

• Reliability engineering
• reliability management

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The BS EN 50126 part 1 – the railway RAM process standard – all references to the standard will be part 1, excepting the SLR process.

2 We recognise the terms major and mega projects maybe used interchangeably. We use mega projects in this paper.

3 A System of Systems (SoS) is formed of a set of independent systems that, together, deliver greater functionality than the individual systems. This is through communication and collaboration that include multiple organizations and disciplines engaged in planning, designing, implementing, constructing, delivering, operating and managing (Shimohara, 2019).

4 MRPs in GB include - High Speed 1, High Speed 2, 4LM, Northern Line extension, Thames Link, Crossrail (Author).

5 The RAM related tasks are part of the Railway RAM Process which is taken from BS EN 50126-1.

6 We note that not all operations and systems or subsystems impact PPM. However, if deemed critical they are included in RAM analysis e.g., fire protection systems, but not included in the hierarchy to the top railway level (route level).

7 RAM studies in MRPs are mainly undertaken in railway systems such as rolling stock, signalling, power, communications (King & Gugala, 2018).

8 TRU – meeting in London (2022) with TRU performance team, who presented their concepts and approaches for modelling railway systems to determine the railway level performance for their intended upgrade.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonathan King

Jonathan King graduated from University of Wales Swansea with a BEng Hons degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He also holds an MSc in Railway Systems Engineering from UOB, where he is currently a PhD candidate. He has vast experience working in industry mainly within the Mega Railway Projects sector.

Gemma Nicholson

Gemma Nicholson received the MMath and MSc degrees in mathematics from the University of Bath, UK, and the PhD degree with a focus on research into the design of microwave bandpass filters using optimization algorithms from the University of Birmingham, UK.

She is currently a Research Fellow with the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE), University of Birmingham, UK. Her research interests lie in using modelling, simulation, analytical and strategic approaches to applied railway planning and operations questions.

Felix Schmid

Felix Schmid graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with the Diploma in electrical and electronic engineering. He worked as a railway traction engineer for GEC in Manchester, for UMIST, for the University of Salford and Brunel University, where he obtained his doctoral degree. He joined the University of Sheffield in 1994 and became Professor of Railway Systems Engineering at The University of Birmingham, where he taught a range of railway engineering subjects and conducted research into railway capacity and operations. He became emeritus in June 2023 but continues to teach and research.