In 2017, the average peak hour train availability was 88% for all CoMET and Nova members. Main causes of train unavailability were planned preventive maintenance, unplanned corrective maintenance, refurbishments and major damages. The biggest constraint to train availability is related to train reliability issues, specifically train failures occurring outside of peak hours which cannot be repaired in time.
The study foucused on the four maintenance and operational approaches that are utilised by metros to optimise train availability: allocation of train maintenance, outsourcing train maintenance, flexibility in operations, and introduction of remote condition monitoring.
Metros’ biggest successes or their future plans in terms of improving train availability are related to optimisation of maintenance work to improve reliability, train refurbishment plans, and introduction of remote condition monitoring on trains.
The three-part scope of this case study covered escalator availability, safety and asset management. Firstly, the study explored definitions and targets for escalator availability and identify causes of, and solutions to, unavailability. Secondly, it identified low-cost practices to improve safety. Finally the study benchmarked escalator asset lives and the nature of maintenance interventions during the lifecycle.
Long-term actions that metros have taken to improve escalator availability are the operational and maintenance practices either to reduce failures from occurring or to restore availability as quickly as possible after escalators go out of service. This involves proactive maintenance work to ensure that escalators are in good condition during passenger service hours, and working with maintainers to optimise their response and supply chain.
Regarding escalator asset management, it is important to adopt a whole-life approach and assess maintenance approaches on this basis, considering the annualised cost of ownership, whole-life unavailability caused by maintenance, the scope and frequency of maintenance interventions throughout the lifecycle, and the customer-facing unavailability caused by maintenance.
17 members of the Community of Metros gathered in Sao Paulo for the CoMET 2018 Annual Meeting. The meeting was held 5th – 8th November, hosted by Metro São Paulo, which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2018. Members were warmly received by the Secretary of Metropolitan Transport for the State of São Paulo, Clodoaldo Pelissioni, and by Metro São Paulo President, Paulo Menezes Figueiredo.
During meeting sessions, members heard the latest results from the annual work programme of Key Performance Indicators benchmarking, spanning metro performance across six areas including financial, safety and environmental benchmarking. New case study research undertaken for the 2018 work programme was also presented, covering Modern Maintenance Practices, Optimisation of Train Availability, and Passenger Incident Management.
Throughout the meeting, each metro also presented their latest news, including their recent activities, challenges, and achievements over the past 6-7 months. The CoMET group heard from three visiting Nova metros throughout the week: Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, Metrovías (Buenos Aires) and MetrôRio.
On 8th November, the CoMET Annual CEO/COO Day was held, welcoming metro leadership to discuss issues of strategic importance. Three topics were selected across financial, environmental and operational business areas, discussing future revenue streams, climate change and extreme weather events, and passenger flow management. A variety of metros participated and led each session, with support from the Railway and Transport Strategy Centre (RTSC) providing the latest group benchmarking relating to the topic.
Throughout the event, members were able to learn about the city of São Paulo and Metro São Paulo’s network through technical visits and using the system. Members visited the Jabaquara depot, serving Line 1-Blue, and saw how trains are prepared for service, corrective and preventative maintenance procedures, equipment and component tuning and testing, component maintenance, warehousing and logistics, and the on-site training centre. During a second technical visit, members visited Sé station, the most crowded station on Metro São Paulo’s network. The station is an interchange for Line 1 – Blue and Line 3 – Red, with around 600,000 passenger passing through this station every weekday. Members were also welcomed to the launching ceremony of the “Estação Memória” (Memory Station) stand in Sé station, an interactive cultural exhibit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Metro São Paulo.
The highest risk area to passenger safety within metro systems is upon entering the track area with an average of one track intrusion per million passenger journeys across CoMET/Nova metros. Platform Doors (PD) remove this risk but their cost, complexity of planning and installation, station design and other challenges constrain their wide-spread installation: 70% of CoMET and Nova members have no or low PD coverage. For many metros, PDs come at the expense of other critical infrastructure projects. This case study explored the best practice on managing platform safety risk without the use of PDs.
On average, 65% of track intrusions for respondent metros are intentional customer actions, requiring mitigation measures to instil a behavioural change. Classified as passive prevention measures, these consist of platform announcements and reminders, poster campaigns and platform-edge markings or lighting.
Beyond these, the study identified active detection methods enacted by staff members or detection and response technologies. Combining Smart CCTV, lasers and microwave frequency was successfully piloted as a means to detecting the presence of any person or object on the track. The use of these technologies has proven effective to increase safety in the absence of PDs.
In 2016, fifteen CoMET and Nova metros have experience in planning or operating automated lines. This study identified good practices in operating fully automated metro lines, known as Unattended Train Operation (UTO) lines. The majority of UTO lines are GoA4 and this trend is projected to continue, with a sharp increase in UTO lines planned for the next 10 years. Given this rapid adoption of UTO, this study was selected by CoMET and Nova members to identify how best to prepare for and eventually operate driverless trains.
The study identified a number of metros good and emerging practices for operating UTO lines from preparation stages to operation. Testing periods for UTO lines, for example, are carried out at three different levels: testing of components, of systems and of whole lines. Following this period, metros may assign on-board staff for fast response to potential service instabilities and passenger assistance. Ultimately for GoA4 lines, incidents are dealt with remotely, managed in practice by the OCCs. This requires a shift in practice from frontline to remote problem-solving. Also, the study determined that whilst UTO lines are generally more reliable, incident management can become a bigger challenge than with conventional lines.
The study explored the development process and current state of metro station guidelines, with a focus on vertical circulation, i.e. escalators, elevators, and stairways. The key factors in station design are current and expected passenger volumes, emergency and evacuation targets, accessibility requirements and space constraints. Within stations, platforms are identified as the most critical zone, and vertical circulation is the most critical element. Poorly designed vertical circulation leads to queuing customers and delayed journeys, and elements should be designed to maintain equal passenger flow.
Beyond mitigating localised bottlenecks, total station capacity must also be assessed and this is approached through station planning and operationally-oriented design. The latter requires the capacity to collect and analyse data to inform decisions in real-time. The data includes information on passenger movements within stations and loading patterns on trains. Technological advances have the potential to enable the abundance of data required.
Combining a data-driven understanding of passenger flow information with planning-oriented guidelines will better ensure that sufficient capacity is provided and avoid legacy problems with passenger flow management.
Ongoing developments in information technologies, specifically the ability to capture, store, and analyse large datasets, are creating significant opportunities to improve maintenance. The study explored the move towards predictive and data-driven maintenance within CoMET and Nova metros.
There is a clear trend in metros to move toward one asset information system. Integration of systems can bring benefits such as increased efficiency in management and data consistency. It is found that metros are adopting advanced technology (e.g. mobile devices, automatic monitoring systems) to collect data more efficiently. Collection of more detailed maintenance data and use dedicated staff to manage data are also used at the same time to improve data quality.
In order to acquire sufficient data for analysis, metros have initiated various pilot projects adding sensors to monitor asset condition. The study collected the good practices within metros in terms of data collection, analysis and applications, as well as the tangible benefits of data analysis. With the development of auto-monitoring systems and evolution of ‘big data’ analysis, there is a significant opportunity to unlock new understanding about asset performance and lifecycles.
This case study focused on the methods that metros use to measure customer satisfaction as well as the initiatives deployed to improve customer satisfaction. The study also discussed how to identify the right added amenities for metros that go over and above delivering the basic expectations of a metro service.
CoMET and Nova KPI data shows the average satisfaction rate for American Metros has seen significant fluctuations, while the average satisfaction rates for metros in other continents have generally increased more steadily year-on-year.
CoMET and Nova, customer satisfaction trends, from KPI data, split by continent (1999-2016)
Metros mainly measure customer satisfaction via customer satisfaction surveys and/or more innovative measurement techniques (e.g. focus groups interview, mystery shoppers). To increase customer satisfaction, improvements were classified into three categories: those which result in improved data collection resulting in an improved understanding of customers’ needs (such as more frequent data collection or better methods); those which improve basic services, respond to customer expectations and increase overall “performance” (such as increased train frequency or modified cleaning procedures); and those which result in added customer amenities (such as Wi-Fi on trains).
OCCs are central to metro operations, through monitoring the entire system and hosting critical decisions during service interruptions. Several metros report plans to upgrade, expand or integrate aspects of their OCC management to improve the level of service they can deliver. The study detailed the role of OCCs focusing on changes in that role brought about by technological advances.
There is a clear trend towards the centralisation of OCC organisational structures with the belief that a unified OCC will improve the efficiency of coordination and cooperation. One critical function of OCCs is serving as a data management centre. Therefore how often information is updated is key to collecting real-time data for OCC management and communications.
Real-time data management and station remote control technologies are emerging trends and identified areas of improvement. These are often linked with the introduction of greater automation. Increased levels of automation and remote control tend to reduce the routine workload on UTO lines. This means that UTO lines typically require fewer staff in daily operation but more experienced staff to handle incidents.
The study defined in broad terms what cybersecurity means to CoMET and Nova metros from an industry perspective. Operational Technology (OT) was prioritised above Information Technology (IT) since the latter is not metro-specific and is more advanced, whereas metro OT systems’ rapid evolution has not been matched by suppliers or regulators.
A metro’s Cybersecurity Risk Profile combines three categories: background threats, connectivity and automation. The study found that high background threats are associated with the most active mitigation measures against cyberattacks, but metros with a high level of connectivity will feature a large risk profile even in a benign political environment. Automation increases the potential impact of cyber-attacks as both physical and non-physical actions may be carried out by a successful hacker.
Ultimately, the study findings concluded that metros, as a key public-facing industry, need to prioritise a cultural shift that places cybersecurity at the forefront of their concerns, similarly to how safety cultures have become established over time.
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