Cost Cutting in Light Rail Maintenance

Light rail maintenance may just be described as a wheel in motion, whether it’s on or off the track.  If it’s a train in motion, it’s determined a success though.  However, every success has a different story and unique circumstances.  It’s difficult to devise a perfect formula for an optimal maintenance system, although it’s quite natural to compare one program with the general norm being followed in the industry.

When the economy is in a downturn and budgets on a shoestring, nothing can be more dangerous than following the same herd that’s been running for years.  Every industry has its own unique system and each organization, in turn, has its own way of making their system work. Unfortunately, philosophies on rail maintenance budgets are followed with the general norm always in mind rather than the uniqueness of the agency or the industry sector.

The light rail industry functions on complex mechanical and electrical systems with moving parts that are constantly exposed to wear and tear.  For light rail service to be reliable, an efficient maintenance system is elementary.  The old saying “squeaky wheel gets the grease” seems to fit well as long as the wheels aren’t squeaking and they are presumed to be rolling smoothly down the track.  Sadly, this is often not the case.  R. Atkins in his paper, “5 Ways to Cut Costs While Shooting Your Maintenance Effort in the Foot” has listed five sure-fire methods aimed at trimming costs, and at the same time axing the maintenance system down at their roots.

Method #1 - The revenue operation of a successful light rail system is proportional to requisite training and preparation of its operational, maintenance and service staff. Key senior operating and maintenance personnel need to be involved in defining and addressing the uniqueness of a particular transit agency.  Suspension or elimination of training and training workshops give immediate positive signs by saving labor hours and eventually cutting cost.  What needs to be kept in mind is that without a trained, core group of maintenance staff, parts might not be installed properly or can even be changed when not needed and their replacement cost would equally add to the downtime and budget.

Method #2 - Undoubtedly, the other most popular method to cut cost is firing personnel or some other reduction in staffing, but sadly these shots are more random than aimed.  Most transit agencies have their maintenance standards and goals, and without adequately trained staff, it is obvious that the standards are being lowered.  Substantial short term savings are guaranteed with the reduction of skilled manpower, but the falling standards and inadequate maintenance will hit the budget hard in the long run.

Method #3 - The success of any light rail transit agency can be measured by its safety, reliability, punctuality, and the quality of service offered.  Needless to say, a well maintained organization should have a significant portion of its technician’s time being spent on process maintenance and inspection.  When observed closely, cutting down on process maintenance and inspection would not only save on the large amount of maintenance salaries, but also on the maintenance program, compounded with the cost of parts and materials.  This method of cost cutting has serious repercussions because without a preventive maintenance program, a transit agency would quickly find itself struggling to meet service demands.  This will quickly be followed with an unreliable fleet causing a reduction in ridership that couldn’t count on a reliable means of transportation.

Method #4 - As mentioned earlier, reliability is the key to running a successful light rail transit agency.  If the agency has adopted a “Baling Wire and Duct Tape Method” to cut cost, the fleet will not be serviceable for long.  Problems have to be eliminated before they become endemic to the system.  To salvage a situation where proper maintenance was avoided, major overhauls and refits would be the only alternative.

Method # 5 - Similarly, reactive maintenance would lead the cost cutting program to the same avenue. In reactive maintenance, also termed the “Laissez Faire Method”, a system is operated until failure.  Reactive maintenance often results in unpredictable system performance and availability.  The long-term effect of this method of cost cutting will lead the light rail transit agency to major reconditioning in order to regain any kind of reliable service.  This is both costly but also damages the reputation of the organization.

These 5 methods of cost cutting are considered the best methods to cut cost in any industry. I have a different perspective to these methods.  I would say that each will have a positive short-term effect on the maintenance budget—and each will have a negative long-term effect.  This is damaging to the vehicles and the employee’s moral that causes a cultural shift in the organization that will take years to repair.  To borrow from R. Atkins, “The use of several or all of them at once is a guaranteed recipe for failure.” Light rail maintenance managers are under immense pressure to deliver reliability, on time and on tight budgets during these difficult economic times.  The ultimate warning is that when finding ways to reduce costs, be wary of derailing your entire operation farther down the track!