About The 2019 Event:

Lessons Learned....Innovations....Benefiting From What Others Have Already Done

The North American Passenger Rolling Stock Maintenance Summit brings together major US passenger rail agencies with technologies providers annually to exchange information and best practices on how to bring down operating cost whilst providing better services.

The upcoming Summit, taking place on March 18-20 in Chicago will enable you to bring back information to help you make decisions and control costs. Information sharing with colleagues in other agencies will potentially enable you to better manage your priorities within the maintenance department and your overall maintenance schedule.

"Not just networking. Sessions are meaningful, with implementable advice, programs, case studies, and a good mix of both suppliers and authoritie"

"A rich opportunity to learn from one another and to help you justify the direction that you're recommending to your General Managers and CEOs - if you can show that other agencies are doing the same thing"

Obtaining innovative ideas about different approaches to problems is another benefit to the attendees of this event. Delegates will see how other agencies experienced a similar challenge, but tackled it in another way. If you are facing the same challenges as another agency in some cases there could be very large cost benefit in adapting their approach to your own circumstances.

What Can Be Done To Improve Reliability Through Maintenance Practices, Or Through Training?

The key to any solid maintenance program is the extension of the life expectancy of your vehicles. A good maintenance program must extend beyond the traditional useful life period of a vehicle. The North American Passenger Rolling Stock Maintenance Summit will enable transit agencies and other rolling stock operators to gain new information on current trends and maintenance practices and enable them to identify the most suitable approaches that would contribute to reliability.

What New Technologies And Overhaul Improvements Are Available And How Can US Agencies Implement These Successfully?

With federally mandated initiatives such as Positive Train Control being implemented, upgrades to rolling stock are becoming more widespread. Brand new modern rolling stock today features more electronic equipment with everything being controlled by computers. Meanwhile the industry needs evolving skillsets to adapt to these changes, so a transition in the workforce needs to happen.

Probably one of the most pressing issues right now for the public transportation industry, is the very wide funding gap between the needs of the industry and what they are actually receiving in terms of federal grants, making it very difficult for agencies to maintain, overhaul and replace their older rolling stock. Where does that capital investment come from? In the current very tight fiscal environment, how do you balance the maintenance needs with the budget?

"The whole industry needs to get smart... we can't do it overnight. You have to see the growth in the confidence of the entire industry... and that's a heavy lift"