Irish Rail Setting up an In-house Electronics Repair Facility

   ... the best way to control maintenance costs.  

                   

        

Ireland's rail network has been in place for almost 150 years. The network is run by Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail and supports the country's economic and social development, providing accessible transport to many destinations. Approximately 42 million passenger journeys were completed on the network in 2016, which is returning to the levels achieved at the height of the boom in 2007. The network and services however all require significant state funding to continue its operation.

During the recent economic downturn, the funding for the operation and maintenance of the rail network was reduced significantly. Although it is starting to recover to a more sustainable level, the funding gap continues to present huge challenges.
One of the alternatives found by the Irish Rail to cope with the funding gap was to introduce an electronics repair and maintenance lab to support the company’s rolling stock in Drogheda. After its successful implementation in recent years, the repair facility accumulated savings of 4 million Euros in 2016 alone to the Irish Rail. As a result, the company’s management approved further investment in dedicated troubleshooting, repair and reverse engineering equipment in late 2017.

ABI Electronics is the original manufacturer of the world’s popular BoardMaster. The product is a unique, versatile and cost-effective system that allows rail organizations to repair and maintain their electronic sub-assemblies internally. After visiting ABI’s premises in South Yorkshire, the Electronic Repair Facility Manager from Irish Rail, Ray Holden, explained why the company decided to work with ABI:
“I have found the smaller OEM suppliers to the rail industry seem to be bought over by the big 3 rail suppliers. Once this happens your option to send faulty components to the OEM for repair seems to get hit with very long delays, with repairs taking up to 5 or 6 months to come back. Within a very short time, the new owners will refuse to repair your equipment and suggest you either pay for development cost for replacement equipment or, if they have stock on hands, you will find that it has inflated prices sometimes by 300%.

With regards to the quality of work provided by external organizations and the impact delays have on the company's bottomline, Mr. Holden added: In my experience, some of the OEM repairs leave a lot to be desired from a quality point of view. Irish Rail is a “small” rail network but has some of the most modern rolling stock in Europe. This can cause issues with suppliers putting you at the end of a long list for repairs. Delays cost money and the money comes from the Tax Payer. We have a duty to provide a service at the best cost. Setting up an in-house Electronics Repair Facility is the best way to control costs as regards to repairables. The challenges are funding for projects, training and equipment. I have to say that Irish Rail's CEO David Franks and Chief Mechanical Engineer Peter Smyth are keen to support such in-house repairs, investment in high quality equipment. I was over with ABI Electronics last week and I was more than impressed with their equipment and professionalism. What they offer is truly amazing.”

In October 2017, ABI Electronics was awarded a contract for the supply of a range of solutions including the BoardMaster, RevEng and JTAGMaster. ABI will also provide certified training for team working at the Drogheda DMU Depot.

With this investment, the electronic support team will be able to offer higher level services aimed at new as well as legacy trains.