Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - (Page 40) Amtrak asset management Amtrak’s high-tech asset management Software helps Amtrak manage infrastructure on its unique Northeast Corridor, where high-speed trains cohabit with commuter runs and freights. by Tom Judge, editor mtrak’s Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston handles the fastest trains in the nation, but also hundreds of commuter trains and a fair number of freight trains. Asset management is a challenge in unique territory such as this, so Amtrak adopted a sophisticated software system to get the job done. “The Enterprise Asset Management System is one of the primary software tools that we use here,” said Bill Broughton, director of Enterprise Asset Management for Amtrak engineering, based in Philadelphia. “To us, EAM is not just the software. It’s a structured A business practice, the methodologies by which we can make the way that inspections are done in the south the same as they are done in the north. It’s information being available that day and next day reporting. What we have done over the past few years is work diligently to get a foundation to support those kinds of things. We had to make computer technology available to our foremen and our supervisors working in dispersed places and to build structured repeatability into the work.” Amtrak’s EAM work with Maximo Software from IBM won the railroad an IBM Maximo Maintenance Best Practices Award. The awards are based on several criteria, including return on investment, organizational acceptance, cost savings, improvements in efficiency and output and creativity. FRA-required inspections “What we do is take an FRA requirement for inspections and build standard job plans to model those inspections,” Broughton noted. “We take those job plans and leverage them Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor handles Acela trains (above), currently fastest in the U.S., as well as commuter trains and an occasional freight train, so managing the physical assets presents many challenges. (Photo courtesy Pandol USA, LP) 40 Railway Track & Structures August 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery Keeping Ballast in Shape Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets Supplier Profiles Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 (Page Cover1) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 (Page Cover2) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Contents (Page 2) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - On Track (Page 3) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - On Track (Page 4) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Industry Today (Page 5) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Industry Today (Page 6) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Supplier News (Page 7) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Supplier News (Page 8) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 9) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 10) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 11) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 12) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 13) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 14) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - AREMA News (Page 15) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - NRC News (Page 16) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - TTCI R&D (Page 17) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - TTCI R&D (Page 18) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - TTCI R&D (Page 19) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - TTCI R&D (Page 20) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 21) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 22) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 23) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 24) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 25) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 26) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 27) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 28) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 29) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Wish List: What Chief Engineers Really Want in M/W Machinery (Page 30) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 31) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 32) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 33) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 34) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 35) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 36) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 37) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 38) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Keeping Ballast in Shape (Page 39) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets (Page 40) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets (Page 41) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets (Page 42) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets (Page 43) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Amtrak Turns to Sophisticated System to Manage NEC Assets (Page 44) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Supplier Profiles (Page 45) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Products and Literature (Page 46) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - People (Page 47) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Sales Representatives (Page 48) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Website Directory (Page 49) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Advertisers Index (Page 50) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Professional Directory (Page 51) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Classified Advertising (Page 52) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Classified Advertising (Page 53) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Classified Advertising (Page 54) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Classified Advertising (Page 55) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Chicago Perspective (Page 56) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Chicago Perspective (Page Cover3) Railway Track & Structures - August 2008 - Chicago Perspective (Page Cover4)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.