Integrating RAMS approach on the safety life cycle of rail transit

RAMS management has been successfully and widely applied in the railway industry abroad. But it is a new conception in the domestic rail transit industry. It is necessary to discuss the related issues of RAMS management in order to promote the standardization, the globalization of urban rail transit industry, and achieve safety, better performance as well as economic objectives of the project. This article outlines a new approach and model to reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety (RAMS) engineering and management based on EN50126 as well as national standard GB/T21562-2008. The new model covers all phases of the safety life cycle of urban rail transit and is aimed at the integrating management of proprietor, contractors, design institutes and supervision and so on. The article discussed main RAMS requirements to a safety rail transit project with high quality services. The RAM analysis methods and safety analysis and risk-matrix suitable for rail transit engineering are discussed in this article. A electromechanical system of rail transit project is used to illustrated the approach and model. RAMS management will play an important role in the development of urban rail transit in China.