Underground Train

A UK-based overhaul and maintenance company for underground trains had a requirement to reduce the service costs of traction motor bearings. Servicing 140 traction motors every 4.5 years was costing 756,000€.

Why are service costs for traction motors so high?

The company wanted to improve its competitive performance by extending service intervals and thus reduce costs – all without compromising reliability.

NSK analysed bearings after six years’ service.

The objective was to determine whether bearing life could be safely extended so that the major overhaul interval could be increased.

More cost-effective maintenance and service

NSK proposed to perform Condition Monitoring to analyse the bearings whilst in service. Combined with intensive testing and comprehensive bearing lifetime assessment techniques, the analysis revealed that the overhaul period could be safely increased from 4.5 to 5.5 years. Reduced service and maintenance resulted in a significant cost saving of 140,000€.