Digital asset management of railway systems is receiving a major boost in India. Investments in asset management enable rail infrastructure managers, rail operators and transit agencies/public transport authorities to improve service, increase reliability and punctuality, maximize customer satisfaction, improve utilization of mobile, fixed and linear assets, manage risks, minimize whole life costs, reduce maintenance costs, maintain high levels of safety, and enable delivery of outcomes and priorities.
The focus is on deploying state-of-the-art technologies and moving from preventive to condition-based and performance-based maintenance. Some of these technologies include smart devices, big data analysis and the internet of things for predictive maintenance; digital twins to enable sustained asset management monitoring on a life cycle basis; advanced solutions for prognosis and health assessment at system level; advanced decision support systems (DSS) for integration and cooperation; design and implementation of robotic solutions for automatic execution of maintenance and management policies; etc.
Rail systems have been in operation for more than 100 years, dealing with a vast array of issues and threats with an excellent record of safety, on-time performance and reliability. The challenge today is to add cyber security awareness and cyber defense measures to the rail industry culture in the same manner that safety has been added to the culture of manufacturing and transportation.
This will reduce the risks to rail and metro companies and their supplier base from cyber security incidents and possible liability should an incident take place.
