Jazz trains: real time maintenace for commuters

The evolution of maintenance systems has helped reduce cancellations on regional routes in the 1st half of 2016

Rome, 20 July 2016

Regional Jazz trains are becoming ever more reliable thanks to an innovative “remote” diagnostics system. The goal is to reduce failures and breakdowns during service and to cut maintenance costs to the benefit of millions of commuters who choose to travel by train every day.

The initial major results include a substantial reduction in cancellations on regional routes due to technical problems. In the first half of 2016, 1% of scheduled routes were cancelled and only 0.4% were for causes attributable to Trenitalia. This figure has more than halved in just two years.

The new maintenance model has the benefit of real-time diagnostic information from convoys that form the fleet of Jazz trains. Special dashboards help monitor the overall performance of the fleet and of individual trains when in service, while also providing real-time reports on the status of on-board equipment, including the possibility of any failures or breakdowns occurring.

The remote diagnostics system trialled by Trenitalia, which is active on E464 locomotives and on all Jazz trains travelling in various Italian regions, is the first major step towards dynamic, predictive maintenance (Dynamic Maintenance Management System). In fact, it represents a crucial transition towards innovative maintenance primarily based on predictive, on-condition analysis.

Indeed, the next phases of the project will provide advanced track-side diagnostic systems, state-of-the-art functions to calculate wear and tear of components, predictive algorithms to identify any malfunctions as well as the required planning optimisation tools to provide a service that increasingly meets the demands of commuters all over Italy.