SNCF looking to IE!

Jamie2k9

Never expected to read this one!

http://www.irishtimes.com/french-operator-looks-to-irish-rail-to-make-savings-and-improve-reliability-1.1509990

Michael D Not Higgins

"In 2007 this fleet had 36,000 delay minutes due to mechanical faults. There has been an incremental improvement since then, and last year it was at 2,500 minutes"

Might have something to do with the fact that the last of the 29s only came in 2005. All trains go through the bathtub curve of reliability.

Captain Chaos

Also might have something to do with that since 2007/8 we have the newest/youngest rolling stock fleet in Europe.

LivelineDipso

SNCF staff getting free holiday in Ireland just like IE staff get them in Korea, Japan and Spain.

Tax Payer funded shop talk with foreign meals and hotels.

Jamie2k9

There is the fact they have newer trains but trains are getting checked more regularly. The 22's used to fail a lot when they started and IE used to leave them operating for long periods of time when one or two engines had stopped working which lead to failures. This seems to of changed and trains are looked after a lot more and not kept in service without working engines for a long time.

Losty Dublin

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

There is the fact they have newer trains but trains are getting checked more regularly. The 22's used to fail a lot when they started and IE used to leave them operating for long periods of time when one or two engines had stopped working which lead to failures. This seems to of changed and trains are looked after a lot more and not kept in service without working engines for a long time.

Any rolling stock takes time till they gain in service reliability. It's more to do with sorting out minor issues in the fleet, mechanics learning how to work with the new trains and drivers and inspectors learning the fleets potential and limits than the OTT mollycoddling which rolling stock gets at first. Even the indestructible mark 3's and 071's took their time till they were considered reliable and fault free.

The_Wanderer

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

There is the fact they have newer trains but trains are getting checked more regularly. The 22's used to fail a lot when they started and IE used to leave them operating for long periods of time when one or two engines had stopped working which lead to failures. This seems to of changed and trains are looked after a lot more and not kept in service without working engines for a long time.

Back in the early days and due to certain issues it was common to have the number of isolated engines in double figures. Believe me it was "difficult" to maintain a service. Thankfully things have come a long way since then and now on average you would find only 0 - 2 engines isolated out of 234. If the engines run, then the fleet runs.

MGWR

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Never expected to read this one!

French operator looks to Irish Rail to make savings and improve reliability – Irish Times

Irish Times? They're about as believable as the Manchester Guardian. :mad: France's current government is socialist; they will not be looking at anything in terms of so-called "lean management", the real version of which would have to do with private-sector operation, and they aren't looking to divest their "Fret" division in that manner (at least they still have such a division, while IE's business has been deliberately cut to marginal, unwisely focussing on the unprofitable-unless-speeded-up passenger end).

SNCF has a long-term goal of electrifying as many of their main lines as possible. What would looking at IE do to help that? Nothing. What experience does IE have in terms of running at high speeds? Nothing; they have some of the slowest top speeds and average speeds of trains around all of Europe.

pigtown

MGWR wrote: »

Irish Times? They're about as believable as the Manchester Guardian. :mad: France's current government is socialist; they will not be looking at anything in terms of so-called "lean management", the real version of which would have to do with private-sector operation, and they aren't looking to divest their "Fret" division in that manner (at least they still have such a division, while IE's business has been deliberately cut to marginal, unwisely focussing on the unprofitable-unless-speeded-up passenger end).

SNCF has a long-term goal of electrifying as many of their main lines as possible. What would looking at IE do to help that? Nothing. What experience does IE have in terms of running at high speeds? Nothing; they have some of the slowest top speeds and average speeds of trains around all of Europe.

So this story is a lie?

Michael D Not Higgins

The article mentions maintenance and lean management to improve reliability. These things are independent of electrification, high speed running, or any other differences MGWR would like to point out between IE and SNCF.

MGWR

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

The article mentions maintenance and lean management to improve reliability. These things are independent of electrification, high speed running, or any other differences MGWR would like to point out between IE and SNCF

What good has it done IE? Expansion indicates growth while contraction indicates the reverse.

Michael D Not Higgins

MGWR wrote: »

What good has it done IE? Expansion indicates growth while contraction indicates the reverse.

I didn't say it had done them any good and even indicated it was more likely that the 29s were hitting the bottom of their bathtub curve which would look more like the staff doing a better job whereas it's more likely they are just naturally settling.

LXFlyer

MGWR wrote: »

Irish Times? They're about as believable as the Manchester Guardian. :mad: France's current government is socialist; they will not be looking at anything in terms of so-called "lean management", the real version of which would have to do with private-sector operation, and they aren't looking to divest their "Fret" division in that manner (at least they still have such a division, while IE's business has been deliberately cut to marginal, unwisely focussing on the unprofitable-unless-speeded-up passenger end).

SNCF has a long-term goal of electrifying as many of their main lines as possible. What would looking at IE do to help that? Nothing. What experience does IE have in terms of running at high speeds? Nothing; they have some of the slowest top speeds and average speeds of trains around all of Europe.

What sort of nonsense are you going on about? This has nothing to do with electrification or high speed trains. The post quoted above manages to turn a simple good news story into something it isn't and we end up with a meaningless rant that would be worthy of the "Tea Party".

The report clearly states that SNCF wish to look at the processes that IE are employing in maintaining their rolling stock, which by the reported statistics have delivered marked improvements in reliability, and see if they can implement something similar.

Last time I checked, doing business efficiently is actually something commendable, which is what IE appear to be doing in this particular example.