In Washington, maintenance on the Metro is more disruptive than expected. According to WVVA.com:
“The latest slowdown of Metro's 9-month maintenance blitz will be more disruptive than initially planned. From Tuesday through Aug. 18, trains will share a single track on Metro's red line between the Shady Grove and Twinbrook stations in Maryland. Also, this weekend, Metro says the red line will be shut down entirely between the Shady Grove and Grosvenor-Strathmore stations. That previously unscheduled shutdown was ordered after a derailment last month on the orange line. The derailment occurred at a point where trains switch from one track to another, and crews will be repairing switches during the work this weekend. Metro has been shutting down or slowing down service on portions of track since June in an effort to catch up on maintenance and make the system safer.”
This can and does happen with any kind of maintenance project, but fortunately, there is a way to help prevent that by making sure your preventative maintenance is kept up with. While this example may not be due specifically to a lack of preventative maintenance, it is a fact that keeping up with preventative maintenance as a whole, decreases that chances of unexpected downtime and not allowing smaller issues to become larger ones.
In this case, it was mentioned that maintenance needed to be caught up on, to make the system safe and the very phrase of “catch up on maintenance” means that there was obviously some area that was lacking.
Nip It In The Bud
By performing regular preventative and proactive maintenance instead of reactive maintenance, you are essentially nipping the large issues in the bud and making sure that things are kept running smoothly and efficiently.
Read More: Avoid the Snowball Effect
Every maintenance manager knows that preventative maintenance is of the utmost importance but it is integral to keep in mind that it does more than just keep things in good shape. It also decreases the downtime that can affect more than just a few hours of work – it ensures that your employees will be more secure in their job, your equipment will stay working longer, and that you are always on top of everything that needs to be done.
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