Solutions For Common Mainline Maintenance & Reliability Challenges Tied Into Customer Experience
During consultation for this event, we engaged with mainline passenger operators across the U.S. and Canada—from Florida to Vancouver—as well as peers in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Despite geographic and market differences, the priorities were strikingly aligned: predictive maintenance, rolling stock modernization, workforce upskilling, and real-world integration of digital tools.
What emerged from these conversations, and from the agenda we’ve now built, is a clear recognition that operators don’t need any more vision—they need practical, scalable methods to overcome deeply embedded challenges. Even those already trialing predictive maintenance continue to face alert fatigue, underuse of diagnostics, and disconnected workflows caused by data silos and limited subsystem interoperability. Fleet-wide alerts have their place—but what’s needed are precise, actionable diagnostics at the car level, aligned with the real capabilities of today’s workforce.
Take modernization. Many mainline operators have already built a business case for retrofitting fleets: upgrading cabins, enhancing digital interfaces, and improving the baseline passenger experience. But the post-COVID rider has reset the benchmark. Today’s passengers aren’t satisfied with mechanical reliability alone. They’re demanding visible comfort, intuitive digital readiness, and service consistency that competes with the convenience and control of private car travel.
One sessions reveals how digital infrastructure upgrades were used not just to support operations, but to deliver real-time service updates and cabin personalization features—boosting customer trust and reducing helpdesk queries. How is your modernization strategy translating into customer-perceived value?
Predictive Systems Require Predictive Workforce Planning
Predictive tools and digital maintenance systems have redrawn the skills map. These technologies demand a dual competency—technicians must now navigate both mechanical systems and electronic diagnostics. It’s no longer sufficient to have legacy expertise in one domain. The question is: how are operators systematically building these hybrid capabilities into their teams—and more importantly, how are they retaining that talent once it’s been developed?
This agenda goes beyond training theory to show how operators are executing at scale. One session showcases a cross-border program that built dual-skill capability across three depots using modular, simulation-led training—achieving a % decrease in electronic fault troubleshooting time within a year. Another session highlights how a rail operator introduced retention-linked skills certification, tying professional development to career progression and internal mobility rather than losing talent to adjacent industries like aerospace or EV manufacturing.
At this event, mainline rail operators will hear proven examples from across the continent. You’ll learn how:
– Technicians are being trained on digital systems at scale
– Modernization is being applied to both carriages and locomotives
– Sustainability is being embedded in rolling stock retrofits
– Real-time monitoring and digital twins have cut downtime by 50%
– Predictive systems are being deployed—and what’s still hard about them
– Leading operators are using automation for brake inspections and more
– Safety upgrades are being added without disrupting schedules
This event is about implementation—what’s really working in maintenance, modernization, and operational transformation. The speakers are operators, the examples are grounded, and the agenda is designed to deliver takeaways you can act on.
