RAMS in the African Railway Industry, it is important to first define “RAMS “.
RAMS connotes: Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety.
Reliability in engineering and machines means the ability of an equipment to remain in operation for its manufactured purpose over a given period. It is akin to loyalty in human relations. Therefore, the loyalty of Machines is called reliability.
Availability is the possibility of an equipment to operate when needed. Whenever an engineer, driver, or operator needs the train, and its being fit for service is its availability. In human relations, a person can be called on and found present all the time. While this concept may resemble reliability, it is not same. Continued Availability leads to Reliability.
Maintainability is the ease with which an equipment can be restored to serve its manufactured purpose; during service, deteriorates, and when it completely breaks down before the end of its allotted service life.
Safety is the ability of an equipment to operate without incidents or accidents, in otherwards to operate within acceptable safety limits.
While there have been major advances in railway technologies around the world leading to improved RAMS, for Africa, except for countries like Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, and Mauritius, these advances have met little adoption in Africa.
Railway which is the cheapest form of transportation for both freight and passengers has not been paid a lot of attention to, existing infrastructure like the TANZAM/TAZARA railway have not been maintained to standards leading to the deterioration of equipment.
New Technologies such as CBTC (Communication Based Train Control), ETCS (European Train Control), and FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) have improved passenger experience, connectivity, safety, and fast movement of cargo in China which has developed its own railway industry and standards. In the United States, the railway industry was the logistical backbone of its emergency and leader of the 2nd industrial revolution, Europe as pioneers of rail, and India have not been left behind. It is the reason why countries that have prioritised rail have registered rapid economic growth.
While Rail led to growth of the US economy, its modernisation was neglected for the automobile. Africa’s economy must not copy this approach.
Africa must therefore prioritise and finance the building of a modern railway industry not only focused on using this technology but also manufacturing them, the rolling stock, and signalling technologies. This will help research between education institutions and the African railway industry to advance and make improvement of the maintenance culture.
This will result in sustainable reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety of the African Railway systems and industry.
Upgraded and prioritised, railway systems in Africa will attract attention of the African passengers as a preferred means of transport. An integrated African railway will help leap and accelerate economic growth by moving goods and passengers faster and affordably across the Continent.
David Gonza
Senior Railway Engineering Consultant
Blackstar Rail Ltd-Ghana / REAMC-UK.
+233 0265594451
www.blackstarrail.com