Back to basics: Reliability,

Availability, Maintainability, Safety

Paul Darlington

This Back-to-basics article provides

an introduction to RAMS (Reliability, Reliability
Availability, Maintainability, Safety)
and how good availability is
dependent on good equipment Availability A
reliability and maintainability, which
in turn is essential to deliver overall
railway system safety. Maintainability S
RAMS is a decision-making tool to
R M
identify how to increase the availability Safety
of a system. In some industries RAMS
refers to a Reliability, Availability,
Maintainability, Study or Schedule.
However in the rail industry ‘S’ Figure 1 – The relationship between reliability,
generally refers to functional safety and availability, maintainability and functional safety.
Standard EN 50126 is called – “Railway
Applications. The Specification and
Demonstration of Reliability, Availability, that good availability is delivered by no competent staff available, no working
Maintainability and Safety (RAMS)”. EN good reliability and maintainability, spare parts, or it may be an asset where
50126 also defines the type of analyses and the safety function of a safety it is difficult to identify what has actually
that has to be carried out for many critical or safety related asset, is failed. In extreme cases it could be that a
railway applications. dependent on good RAM. spare part or a competent person has to
In simple terms, reliability is the be flown from another part of the world.
A RAMS study should be conducted So, in this scenario the availability target
probability of no failures occurring in the early stages of a project and be
over a defined time. Availability is could fail significantly.
reviewed and updated as the project
the percentage of time a system is Now let’s consider another extreme
progresses. This will identify targets
considered operational when required, example of an asset which is
for RAMS, together with any significant
and maintainability is a measure of very unreliable, but has excellent
causes of loss of availability or the
the ease with which a system can be maintainability, with many competent
safety function. The study will also
restored to operation after a failure. knowledgeable technicians and
Safety (in the context of this article identify improvements to the design
or maintenance regime to achieve the engineers readily available, and with
and RAMS) is the condition of being many spare parts at hand which are
protected from danger, risk, or injury identified targets.
easy to change. In this scenario it could
by the safety function of an asset. The relationship between reliability, be that an asset with poor reliability
For example, a signalling interlocking availability, maintainability, and functional has good maintainability and therefore
ensures that signals and points act safety is shown in Figure 1. Availability acceptable availability. ‘A’ also stands
together for the safe routing and is at the top of the first triangle, as for Affordability and generally good
movement of trains. it is dependent on reliability and maintainability will cost more in terms
There are many academic and maintainability. Consider the availability of competent staff, spares, and support
detailed papers explaining RAMS with of an asset that is very reliable but has contracts, so affordability is another
calculations that can become quite poor maintainability. This could be for a factor that has to be included in
complex. However, the principle is variety of reasons. Such as poor access, any RAMS study. >>>
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IRSE News | Issue 295 | January 2023

Reliability Maintainability Availability

Poor Poor Poor

Average Poor Poor

Good Average Average

Average Good Average

Good Good Good

Figure 2 – How reliability and maintainability affect availability.

If an asset is providing a safety function, Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) earlier and in safety, and deliver a more
then its RAM must be of an acceptable is one tool available to asset managers. reliable railway.
level to ensure the safety function is Rather than based on a period of time
A good example of the benefits of
delivered when required and any failure or mileage, RCM sets the frequency
remote condition monitoring are
of the asset results in a safe state. of maintenance interventions to take
with track circuit monitoring. With
So, for example a failed track circuit into account the criticality of the asset
intermittent faults it can be difficult
must return the protecting signal to with respect to its function and historic
to identify the root cause and can
red. The relationship between RAM, reliability. So, if an asset is likely to fail
result in time-consuming attempts at
and how reliability and maintainability more often, and the failure is going to
fault finding and incorrect ‘fixes’ being
affect availability in simple terms is adversely affect availability, it should be
applied. Remote condition monitoring of
shown in Figure 2. checked more often.
track circuits enables prompt detection
Improving reliability Increasing redundancy in the design of intermittent faults and the correct
of a system will also improve reliability. identification of the root cause prior to
So, how can reliability be improved
So, if designed properly with hot attendance on site.
to deliver better availability? It’s vital
standby or load sharing, when a vital
to identify why an asset fails, so that Maintainability
asset fails another one seamlessly takes
something can be done to improve its
over. Processes need to be in place When an asset does fail, its
reliability. A root cause analysis should
to detect the non-service affecting maintainability is the ease with which
be carried out, with tools such as FMEA
failure and resolve it, otherwise reduced it can be restored to operation. So,
(Failure Mode and Effects Analysis).
availability is simply being delayed, competent well-trained staff equipped
Asset managers and maintainers need to
rather than the failure being mitigated. with the right tools and spares must
continually review, revise, and learn from
Sometimes it may require a healthy be readily available. Therefore, good
failure reports, which could also involve
asset to be taken out of service to training to enable technicians to
independent forensic investigations from
resolve the issue and operators may diagnose asset faults is essential. A
specialist engineering experts.
be unwilling to assist, because as far as good project should engage with the
Higher quality components could also they are concerned there is no failure. maintenance organisation at an early
be considered to improve reliability, Signalling interlockings are provided stage to identify and scope the required
although with safety related and with redundancy with several Safety training, and just as important the
safety critical assets this could involve Integrity Level (SIL) processors. The maintainer needs to communicate with
a safety case and design change, interlocking systems have to be carefully the project during its development.
with appropriate verification and designed and tested so that if they do
Good documentation/diagnosis
validation, and testing. fail, they fail safely and do not create
guides can also assist technicians
unsafe train paths.
EMC immunisation should always be with the maintainability and repair
checked out if any electronic assets Remote condition monitoring is of systems and it is important that
are failing for no apparent reason. increasingly being used in many projects communicate and consult
Many railway electronic assets are old engineering disciplines to detect with the maintainer throughout the
and were designed before modern likely failures before they occur. So project development to ensure they are
immunisation standards were in place. that an intervention can take place provided with the right assistance to
It is not unknown for new assets to be before an asset fails. Greater remote maintain the system. This is not always
installed in existing equipment rooms monitoring with more functionality the case and sometimes generic training
which can cause older equipment to fail. and more intelligent infrastructure courses provided right at the end of
With more and more modern electronic enables technicians to safely inspect the project may not provide what is
equipment installed in older equipment and predict ‘work arising’ earlier and required to deliver good maintainability.
rooms with poor immunisation more accurately. This results in less It is too late to start thinking of the
protection this problem may increase people working on the track ‘at risk’, training requirements just before the
in the future. and provides the ability to plan work commissioning of a new system.

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 IRSE News | Issue 295 | January 2023

Maintainability, some examples of when it hasn't worked

The example on the left shows a location case containing a selection

of relays. With no opening back door access to the relays is severely
restricted. In the photo to the right at another location using BR930
style relays the maintainers have overcome this shortcoming by
adding terminals above the relays to allow testing to take place.

Two more examples of location case

maintainability at its worst. In both instances
safe and easy access is impossible, hindering
work and increasing times to maintain or
repair equipment in the cases.

Similarly, test equipment, spares and to disconnect electrical connections Verification is intended to check that
documentation, including faulting and remove items with standard tools. a product, service, or system meets
guides, should be addressed at an early Remote diagnostic alarm and analyses a set of design specifications. “Are
stage of any project. of systems will also aid maintainability. you building it right?” It is a process
Ideally if people have to go to site, that is used to evaluate whether a
It is somewhat ironic that a reliable
they should be provided with details product, service, or system complies
system may not provide technicians and
of the intervention required well with standards, regulations, and
engineers the opportunity to practise
before they arrive. specifications.
their investigation skills. Therefore,
further familiarity training throughout the The maintenance organisation will also Validation is intended to ensure that a
systems asset life should be considered, need to carefully plan and optimise product, service, or system meets the
both for current and new staff. the faulting response cover to aid operational needs of the user, which
maintainability. This needs to make must also include the maintainer. “Are
Consideration should also be made for
allowance for travelling to site at all you building the right thing?” Identifying
establishing a test/training rig for staff
times of the week and day. An escalation design problems, and solving them as
to practise their fault-finding skills and
process will also be required, both for early in the project as possible, is the key
to receive training on the system, along
telephone and on-site assistance 24/7. to keeping projects on time and within
with competency assessments. This
This could include both in house, third budget, and providing systems that are
could be located at the maintainers
party and OEM support. No matter reliable and maintainable, as well as
training school, on site, or at the OEM
how good and competent a person delivering their safety function.
premises. This will also be useful for the
is, it always helps to seek another
OEM or a third party to develop and test Further reading
independent opinion, especially with
replacements for obsolete parts for the
difficult and safety related/critical tasks. 1. Evolution of the railway RAMS
asset during its life.
management process. Vladimir
Independence is also an important part
Access to the system must also be Romanov, Zinan Cao and Aryldo G
of design and testing, especially with
considered during its design. Both Russo Jr- IRSE News April 2021.
safety critical assets. One important area
for good easy access to the site by 2. Is RAMS all BULL for
of independence in project development
technicians with tools, test equipment electromechanical equipment.
and implementation is verification and
and spares; and to easily access any Wayne McDonald IRSE News
validation. This is sometimes carried out
parts that may need replacement. So, June 2017. Originally presented
by specialist verification and validation
equipment cubicles may need front, at the Australasian Section AGM
engineers, who will assess RAMS among
rear and side access. It should be easy and Technical Conference
other project deliverables.
held in March 2017. ///
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