Operational Excellence

Service Delivery

Together with the quality of the customer service provided by our on-board and in-station staff, the on-time performance of our trains is among the highest profile and most impactful experience of our passengers. For those whose trains are reliably on time, using our service is a source of convenience and comfort. For our passengers who are transit-dependent, using our service is a necessity. We are proud to have consistently improved our performance since 2014 and will continue on this path of operational excellence.

  • Our Service Delivery operational excellence plan is guided by a continuous goal of delivering sustained, “best-ever” performance levels that will, in turn, drive increasing customer and employee satisfaction. Each member of the KCS team plays a critical role in delivering excellent service and driving a culture of continuous improvement. Excellent service takes many forms: a member of the on-board crew ensuring a train leaves on-time or assisting a passenger with mobility limitations; members of the performance management and planning teams applying advanced analytics to identify opportunities for improvement; or the diligence of our dispatchers in controlling the movement of trains in a safe and efficient manner.

    An overarching “93.75% plan” is in design and will be delivered in order to achieve an annual raw OTP of 92.5% in 2022, 93.5% in 2023, and 93.75% in 2024. This will include the delivery of specific projects to address the various root causes of OTP losses ranging from fleet availability and infrastructure reliability to disruption management, weather management, and yard operations. This plan will also integrate continuous improvement in the way we develop schedules.

  • In delivering the MBTA’s rail service over the past eight years, KCS has developed industry-leading capabilities in performance analytics and management. The continued adoption of best practices in performance management – including a programmatic reduction in the business’ reliance on tacit knowledge – coupled with improvements in systems and processes will advance our strategic advantage in this space.

    This includes, for example, the further development of the capabilities and output from the Train Reporting and Monitoring System (TRMS). Similarly, the design and delivery of a framework that leverages operational software and systems of record will feed a relevant database from which KCS can enhance its operational governance through the use of Power BI data visualization dashboards. The development of an integrated data warehouse will further contribute to driving insights and performance enhancements.

    Moreover, through competency management and increased investment in our people, KCS will further empower supervisory-level personnel to make real-time service decisions for a more efficient response to unexpected disruptions. Cascading the availability of information from the visual management systems to frontline managers will be one of the main tools we can leverage to prioritize and improve the effectiveness of those decisions.

    With the strides we have made as an organization with respect to document management and internal audits, we intend to instill a deeper culture of quality in all departments, positioning KCS to achieve and maintain an ISO 9001 quality management system certification by the end of 2024.

    This emphasis on maturing our data analysis and actionable insight capabilities through continued investments in people, processes, and state-of-the-art data technologies will advance the performance of the organization and lead to greater resiliency.

  • Stability and consistency within the Service Delivery management organization continues to be an ongoing focus. This commitment prevents the loss of critical knowledge and improves continuity of service and resiliency, especially during adverse weather and other disruptive events. KCS will continue to improve its contingency planning by refining alternative schedules and equipment cycles based upon lessons learned from major events to further solidify the robustness of operations.

    For the duration of this business plan cycle, KCS intends to identify and develop initiatives to improve union roster visibility/management to ensure that duty coverage is more robust. Through a partnership with our unions, we will take another step toward improving our rate of absenteeism.

  • Following years of discussion, rail service is coming to the South Coast of Massachusetts in 2023. KCS will partner with the MBTA and the South Coast Rail Project team to facilitate the successful expansion of service to Fall River and New Bedford. These collaborative working groups will take steps to protect the rest of the Old Colony area from a degradation in performance and ensure that all operational and financial risks are managed and opportunities are captured through the final stages of mobilization for this exciting new service.

  • It is KCS’ intention to benchmark with other Keolis Group operations and the rail industry as a whole to develop operational improvement proposals (e.g. cut-and-run procedures, training/competencies, scheduling, on-time processes and monitoring, efficiencies, safety).

    Moreover, leveraging full data pipelines, optimization tools, and simulation technologies will further enhance our ability to identify opportunities for operational improvements, efficiency enhancements, and schedule adjustments. Upon consideration of feasibility, plans can be implemented that will move KCS toward more modern operating practices.

Asset Management

The safety, reliability, and robustness of the rail service we provide is the product of a system which requires not only first-class operating skills, but comprehensive strategic and tactical asset management practices. The infrastructure and rolling stock comprising the MBTA’s rail network reflect the growth over the past 40 years – growth that has necessitated a maintainer like KCS that can draw upon its traditional and modern technical expertise to optimize asset performance. Developing and enhancing condition-monitoring and reporting capabilities will facilitate transparency and collaborative improvement efforts.

  • While asset maintenance operations have made great strides, there remains room for further advancement. The MBTA has invested in an enterprise asset management system, Trapeze, that has elements our team has not yet fully leveraged. Over the course of the next three years, KCS will focus on more fully embedding Trapeze throughout the Engineering department and maximizing the life-cycle management benefits it offers in all aspects of asset management.

    As compliance to a maintenance and testing protocol is at the heart of good asset management, where appropriate (e.g. track infrastructure), additional complementary tools will be introduced to support monitoring and recording activities.

    Investing in the competence and skills of our workforce will improve employee engagement and drive better performance. Over the next three years, KCS will enhance the relevance and delivery of our critical training programs, and design, implement, and embed a competence management system within the engineering and mechanical crafts to improve both management and union craft accountability. In addition to improving the skills of our Asset Maintenance team members, it is important to invest in the tools and facilities to support those upskilled workers. KCS will work with its union partners to better understand the areas in which the MBTA and KCS can invest to achieve the desired outcomes.

  • The delivery of our 93.75% Plan will be supported by specific projects in the Mechanical and Engineering departments that will improve fleet and infrastructure availability. These projects, which will cover operational practices and technical equipment implementation, will be built upon historical performance and failure data.

    One of the important attributes of a robust and resilient operation is the effective and efficient response and management of operational incidents. The Asset Management team plays an important role in keeping the network running safely, smoothly, and on time through its ability to triage issues and direct appropriate resources in a timely fashion to reduce any residual performance delays. During the next three years, KCS will continue to refine and improve its organization, processes, and decision-support tools related to incident response and management.

    By further leveraging Trapeze, as well as a host of other information sources and systems of record, KCS can continue its migration to more advanced, data-centric decision-making that will include refined predictive maintenance.

    Remote asset condition and real-time monitoring will continue to be expanded to support the anticipation of asset failures and improve operational response.

    Based on the overall maintenance data, additional initiatives will be launched to improve the resilience of our Asset Management teams. The rail network with which KCS is entrusted is now seen by our passengers as a seven-days-per-week railroad, and our asset maintenance practices must match. Over the course of the next three years, we will bolster our planning and organization to better meet the demands of a seven-days-per-week railroad, while being mindful of both fatigue management and the challenges of reduced system downtime for the performance of critical work.

  • In the next three years, KCS will continue to advise the MBTA on its fleet and infrastructure strategy with an eye on data and trends in asset reliability. This will allow our client to prioritize renewals and upgrade activities where and when necessary to protect the commuter rail performance.

    KCS will also leverage its parent company, SNCF, to propose new technologies to implement a step-change in our maintenance practices. As the world shifts toward a more holistic view of sustainability and collective carbon footprint reduction, KCS is likewise increasing its focus and resources in this important area. In addition to identifying opportunities to introduce more climate-friendly technologies and assets within KCS’ own operations, we will leverage Keolis’ worldwide experience in support of the MBTA’s journey toward sustainability by providing advice and recommendations on climate-friendly asset investments and infrastructure improvements. Together we will identify areas where we can pilot innovative ideas and technologies.

    Finally, it is KCS’s intention to achieve ISO 55001 certification for the next cycle of the business plan. Reaching this milestone will demonstrate to our client that KCS is managing the MBTA’s assets according to best practices and to at the highest international standard.

A calendar of action items with a list of specific KPI targets for each section of the plan will be available from the VP of your department and will be in the printed Business Plan booklet available soon.