Alstom has launched the ‘HealthHub,’ a new predictive maintenance tool able to monitor the health of trains, infrastructure and signalling assets using advanced data analytics to predict their remaining useful life.

HealthHub was presented at the ongoing InnoTrans, a leading railway tradeshow, taking place in Berline, Germany.

It is an innovative approach designed to shift from traditional mileage-based maintenance to condition-based predictive maintenance, thus reducing the lifecycle cost for the operator, said a statement.

The tool is supported by various high technology data capture solutions such as TrainScanner, an automated diagnostics portal capable of measuring the condition of three key consumables of a train as it moves through the portal: wheels, brake pads and pantograph carbon strips.

It allows up to 15 per cent of material costs to be saved by replacing them only on an as-needed basis. For infrastructures, TrackTracer will allow similar monitoring of the track and catenaries.

Laurent Fromont, Alstom Transport vice-president services, said: “HealthHub stengthens the implementation of the ‘pit-stop” approach by anticipating maintenance activities. Everything is ready when the train arrives so that maintainers can complete the tasks swiftly and without waste.

“It has been specifically designed to issue recommendations to carry out the tasks that are actually needed, at the moment they are required. For our customers, the advantages are multiple: they optimise their fleet-size thanks to the increased train availability, the time in depot is reduced and the total lifecycle cost is lowered.”

Alstom also launched the Atlas 400 and 500 to offer European Railway Traffic Management System for traffic density from six to 600 trains per day, whether on passenger, freight or mixed traffic lines.

The solutions are applicable for a resignalling upgrade or a new-build project. The scalability or configurable deployment in accordance with customer needs is achieved with modular software applicable to the same onboard and trackside computer equipment.

Both Atlas 400 and 500 are based on Alstom’s Atlas 200 system and take into account customer feedback.

Atlas 400 has been specifically designed for low density lines. With Atlas 400, train detection is performed by the trains themselves, which reduces the need for trackside equipment, providing investment savings from 12 per cent to 16 per cent and up to 30 per cent on maintenance cost. It is designed to be operated with satellite positioning and various radio bearers.

Atlas 500 has been designed for high density lines and increases headway performance by up to 25% for customers. Trains can follow each other very closely thanks to the accurate braking curve. It also reduces the time for station stops.

Atlas 500 combines ATO and moving block functionalities without adding extra equipment – and so does not increase the cost of ownership. Furthermore, Atlas 500 uses GPRS which allows communication with more trains in dense traffic areas. - TradeArabia News Service