NedTrain is the leading provider of rolling stock maintenance in The Netherlands. NedTrain provides the highest possible level of rolling stock availability and reliability at the lowest possible cost for numerous passenger and freight carriers from across Europe. For its largest customer, the Dutch national railroad company, NS, NedTrain also carries out the long-term overhaul of components such as bogies, wheelsets and diesel engines.
In order to guarantee the highest possible reliability and availability of train material, NedTrain has identified the need for improved understanding of the physical behaviour of components, such as the engine, in their extremely complex operational environment. DySI is therefore carrying out a project, jointly with partner Lloyd's Register Rail, investigating the Mat64 which is the passenger train with the longest service record in the Dutch railway system.
Complex data analysis
DySI's role in this project is to carry out the complex analysis and interpretation of data from 70 different sensors taking measurements at a frequency of 1 kHz and faster, continuously recorded during 6 months of train operation. Physical cause and actual effect come about through a complex chain of events. Extracting this insight from the data requires the highly sophisticated tools that DySI has at its disposal: exploratory data analysis, multi-variate analysis, and model-based analysis. These have all been applied to the observed dataset of over 5 Tbyte. Based on half a year's worth of data, DySI has successfully extracted the information that has enabled NedTrain to solve a number of technical problems.
" DySI's method of analyzing the really complex cause and effect relationships between a large number of parameters in an operational train has been a groundbreaking innovation in our industry. Their multivariate, model-based approach has helped us to solve a number of problems , to remove misconceptions and unncessary searches in wrong directions, and gain a better understanding of the Mat64 system even after 45 years of operation. Not only does DySI play its role in the analysis, they actively take part in result-oriented discussion, with the interests of us as a customer in mind. The presentation of the results has been very clear and has enabled NedTrain to identify solutions that are reasonable also from a cost perspective. DySI has therefore supported NedTrain in its core mission of improving reliability and availability at low cost. "
Frits Neuteboom, Reliability Engineer NedTrain