TRAIN OFFICE A key factor for the increase in quality and productivity of rail services. Pedro Jesus (*)

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1 "#$%&'#()( TRAIN OFFICE A key factor for the increase in quality and productivity of rail services Pedro Jesus (*) CP - Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses, EP Gabinete de Inovação e Desenvolvimento Calçada do Duque, Lisboa Portugal Phone: Fax: pojesus@mail.cp.pt (*)The Co-ordinator of this project is Mr. Carlos Lopes and the Technical Analysis Group is constituted by Mr. Pedro Jesus, Mr. Carlos Pinto, Mrs. Cristina Cavalheiro, Mr. Jorge Rosa and Mr. José Estrela. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/ )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

2 "#$%&'#()( Summary The investment in new information and communication systems will enable the optimisation of control and planning of passenger and goods transportation through the automatic monitoring of fleet and services. The capability to control and define transport procedures at any time when a problem arises is also an important issue. This paper presents the result of a study on that subject and describes the implementation, by CP- Portuguese Railways, of the first phase of a system, which is expected to allow a set of benefits, namely the increase of productivity of the rail operator and service quality to the client. Those benefits include the access to transport information in real time, the ability to inform the clients at any time about the status of transport service, the capability to react to new requirements of transport, the improvement of personnel management and the optimisation of rolling stock fleets. The development of this system is the basis of the monitoring of rail operations and at the same time an infrastructure for collecting and processing information. This system will be supported by a GPS and GSM solution to meet the technical requirements for fleet management. This system enables the localisation using GPS and the communication of data via GSM. Moreover, this system will allow the implementation of other standards such as GALILEO, GPRS, GSM-R or UTMS, as soon as they become available. Keywords Data collection and transmission, fleet monitoring, tracking & tracing 1 Introduction The evolution of the rail sector in Portugal has created urgent needs for CP and there is a consensus that the rail operator must have its own communication system with the trains to allow the implementation of management systems adapted to the new reality of the rail sector. This system will help the management of several distinct items such as train crews, sales, billing, and specific needs of the clients such as information, among others. The management functions, in the scope of this system, are less demanding in terms of equipment and communications reliability when compared with those of traffic control. That enables the possibility to take advantage of non-proprietary technologies and information systems available in the market whose emerging utilisation in transport domain, allows significant advantages for rail operators. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0, )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

3 "#$%&'#()( The development of this communication systems requires some caution, so that, besides being a specific system of follow-up of the rail activity, it may become an infrastructure of processing and acquisition of the information (client, passenger, cargo, vehicle) necessary to the whole transport chain. The main management objectives for CP are: - to facilitate the management of transport production (train control and management of human and material means involved in transportation); - to increase the quality of national and international transport service - to improve the prediction of arrival time at destination, to control delays; - to improve the public information and the relationship with the client - speed, and reliability of information related to the transport contracts, during all the trip. This objective could be achieved through the: on-line access to vehicle information in operation; on-line access to commercial information (timetables, prices, contracts); creation of a privileged point of access to the transport management applications developed by rail operators and clients, presently with very good capabilities, as a good means of information exchange (intermodal transport). To achieve those goals the following objectives were defined by priority: - Operational management - Information for management of train, locomotives, wagons and coaches on open track, in stations or in shunting yards, in composition formation; information about location of vehicles and human resources affected to trains; - Commercial management - information to the public related to timetables, location and train delay, carried goods, estimated delivery time and the informatisation of the transport documents; - Technical management - Information about the vehicle condition and related devices (axle temperature, locomotive technical alarms,...) and goods status (cold storage locker, mechanical shocks, ). 2 The system conception Once the common needs are identified it becomes fundamental to design a system with the capability of storing and distributing the resulting information, the train location and the communications between the trains and the monitoring centres and the subsequent system of collecting and distributing of information to the management centres. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0 A )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

4 "#$%&'#()( To achieve the goals mentioned above, CP intends to develop a system with the components of location, data and voice acquisition, and information distribution to all the interested entities according to the "Train-Office" philosophy whose basic structure is shown in figure 1. TRAIN-OFFICE - General Description - Collection and transmission of voice and data system GPS Train Office Consignment Note Accompanying documents Portable Terminal Identification of vehicles ( Tags ) Management Centres CENTRAL SYSTEM Station / Terminal Staff e. Tractive Stock Train. Location Rolling Stock. Consignment Note Accompanying documents Figure 1 Train-Office - General Description. The philosophy of "Train Office" basically intends to use telematic systems to enable the management of rail operator business - based on the train including technical and human resources on-board under the responsibility of the rail operator. We intend to ensure that tractive vehicles have the capability of transmitting and receiving information to and from the management centres. Those resources tend to be concentrated in the driver's cab, where a constant exchange of information between trains and management centres generated by the rail activity is performed. It is intended that the voice and data communications between the personnel on-board and the management centres will be executed without delays independently of the physical means used. The system must assure the redundancy at centre level (monitoring and management centres) and the links between the various subsystems (on-board and ground centres) as seen in figure 2. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0 B )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

5 "#$%&'#()( TRAIN-OFFICE - Involved Systems - Train Office STATIONS AND E TERMINALS Management Centre Management. of train crew Train and tractive stock location Tractive stock management SIE Control and management of rolling stock Consignment Note Accompanying Documents Systems to be developed Train crew management and control system Tractive stock management system Portable Terminal Monitoring Centre Collection and transmission data system Consignment note Accompanying documents CENTRAL SYSTEM SIE - Operations system (presently in use) Train and tractive stock location system Billing system 3 Basic description of processes Figure 2 - "Train-Office" - Involved Systems. In the first phase, this system will enable the operational management of: - running trains; - rolling stock; - train crews. To attain this, it is necessary to exchange information between the trains (locomotives and railcars) and the management centres in order to provide data to the different systems or subsystems upstream that will help the deciders manage the resources at their disposal. The other objectives, as the commercial management and the technical management, will be the subject of future developments. The main activity that sets up the process is the identification of the train number, rolling stock number and crew. The identification through the train, wagon or coach number of the successive positions that the vehicle occupies along the line will allow the accompanying of train movement by the respective management centre while the train remains in its area of influence. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0 C )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

6 "#$%&'#()( The identification of tractive stock (locomotives and railcars) will be made by the on-board system. The trailing stock (coaches and wagons) will be endowed with identification tags that will send, via radio, to the on-board system, the identification of each vehicle and its related position in the train. When providing the indication of the vehicles in the train, the system will inform the operations system (SIE) that is in charge of the management of the rolling stock (locomotives, coaches and wagons). Simultaneously, in freight trains dispatching, the information included in the document that accompanies the train (consignment note) will be cross-checked with the information located in the on-board system - identification of the wagons in the train - and it will provide the remaining data to the operations system (product, client, origin and destiny, among others). The dispatching of freight could be done in a fixed installation in the terminals or through a portable terminal that will be delivered to the on-train personnel. That portable terminal, that will be used in places where a fixed installation doesn't exist, will enable the use of the train communication system and also a fixed data link, commuted phone network or mobile phone. The consignment note will be sent by the system to feed a billing system that will be developed. The system will enable the collection and transmission of the train crew identification data and of all tasks performed by the crew during the trip. For the identification of the personnel a contactless smart card will be used in order to facilitate the introduction of data in the on-board system. All the information produced by the "Train-Office" system will be sent to the management centre located in its area of influence. These management centres are co-ordinated by Co-ordination Centres belonging to the business units (passenger and freight). The system intends to provide an information service to tracking and monitoring rolling stock in a fully novel way of collecting the information by using as main data source a GPS/GSM on-board equipment: - the GPS (Global Positioning System) provides positioning for mobile vehicles with suitable precision all over the world; - the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is the digital communications standard for mobiles, selected also for the development of the new European rail radio system (GSM- R). The combination of the two technologies allows to collect positioning and other data and to send this information from vehicles to ground stations (centres) with no need of personnel and costly installations along the rail lines. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0 D )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

7 "#$%&'#()( The general architecture of the system is based on two main types of equipment, the centres (ground station) and the on-board terminals (one for each cab) and it uses two different technologies, the GPS (for the train localisation) and the GSM (for the bi-directional communication vehicle-centres). The information flows on both senses from "train-office" (in the driver's cab) to the management centres and vice-versa. The information is also transmitted from "train-office" via GSM (voice and data) or GPS (data) to the monitoring centre that in turn delivers that information depending on data/voice characteristics to the centralised operations centre, the freight and passenger coordination centres and management centres. 3.1 Monitoring Centre The monitoring centre is the heart of the system and allows the main functions: the communication management, the database storage and the application running. The system has a redundant and scalable architecture and includes a server and two workstations. The monitoring centre will have an Ethernet local network that will link to the GSM operator and to CP network through gateways. This centre will be equipped with GSM units to communicate with mobile units. A redundant database will support several subsystems such as: communications management, localisation of trains, wagons and coaches, train follow-up, tag maintenance, network map, goods consignment, the interface with the operations system and the personnel management database. To avoid any electrical problems the server is powered via an UPS. 3.2 On-board system in tractive stock (cabs) The data acquisition unit (figure 3) will include: - an antenna for the reception of location data (GPS) and transmission/reception of messages (GSM); - GPS receptor for location; - GSM/Satellite modem (location, data and voice); - Voice communications unit; - A terminal with tactile display and keyboard (man-machine interface) for identification of personnel and service, reception of messages via monitoring centre, visualisation of train composition, transmission of emergency and status messages to the monitoring centre, etc.; - Smartcard reader for personnel identification; - Tag (identification of locomotive/railcar and its technical information; historical of locomotive/railcar concerning maintenance, etc.); - A short distance radio transmission system for data transmission between the tags installed in the trailing stock, data transmission with handheld used in the moving of vehicles, data transmission to the terminals of the operations system (SIE) and data transmission to the remote terminals for the identification of train crews. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0 E )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

8 "#$%&'#()( Man Machine Interface GSM Antenna Handset Microphone Loudspeaker GPS antenna On-board Computer Contactless smartcard reader Link to portable terminal Master Tag Figure 3 - Onboard-system in each cab. 3.3 On-board system in trailing stock (coaches and wagons) The data acquisition unit will include: - tag (identification of wagon/coach and its technical information; historical of wagn/coach concerning maintenance; information concerning the transport in execution - client, destination, cargo, etc) - A short distance radio transmission system for the transmission of data between the tags installed in the adjacent wagons or coaches, data transmission with handheld used in the moving of vehicles, data transmission with the terminals of the operations system (SIE); 3.4 Handhelds The data read and data input to the tag in wagons and coaches can be done by messages from a handheld PC which is equipped with a short distance radio module by which data can be exchanged. The benefit of this configuration is that there are no communication costs when using the handheld. 4 Conclusion The acquisition of data in useful time will permit: - a better management of the rolling stock (passenger and freight) so far as it enables the followup of the trains and thereafter the optimisation of rolling stock rotations; "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/-0 F )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

9 "#$%&'#()( - a better management of train crews; - an increase of speed in the solution of disturbances; - a better information to the clients; - a time decrease in the introduction of data and the achievement of statistical data from the transport production viewpoint. This project will be a base for the reduction of operation costs and an increase of performance, accompanying a future trend of on-time management of the activity, such as some applications of urban public transport operators, and is therefore an innovative application in rail transport operators. The system is intended to follow and be compatible with future European on-board communication standards under elaboration, such as GPRS, UMTS, GSM-R and GALILEO. Such a development can enhance productivity and quality growth. Basically two groups of benefits are touched: a) customer care readiness: the ability to tailor services to the customer by using information for purposes of transport, quality and product management - the right wagon, at the right place, in requested condition, in time; - access to tailored operation information; - access to delay information; - ability to inform customers at any time about status of transport; - ability to react on changing requirements of customers. b) Disposition and control: the ability to control and steer transport procedures at any time when a problem or a new requirement emerges, with the subsequent improvement in the productivity of the rail operator - access to transport management information; - access to delay management; - quality management; - contract control; - optimisation of wagon and locomotive fleet. A third group of benefits related to maintenance and the ability to improve maintenance productivity or to redesign it totally, that will be included in future developments of this system. The internal and the external source of benefits add up to a level of improvements which will compensate fleet monitoring cost. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/ )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<

10 "#$%&'#()( After the definition of all the technical specifications of the system, "Train-Office began the implementation of the first phase in December This phase intends to assess the existing technological capabilities and eventually to adjust some parameters, in order that in case of success, the subsequent phases will be adapted to the existing situation in CP. BIBLIOGRAPHY - Takasu Y., "Automatic train position detecting and reporting system" West Japan Railway Company, WCRR99 - Bernard J., "Satellite-based location and telecommunication for railway applications", SNCF, WCRR99 - Di Mambro, G. " The FIRE Project", Italian State Railways, WCRR99 - Fornecimento de um sistema de recolha e transmissão de voz e dados Train-Office Caderno de encargos II - Condições Específicas - Supply of a collection and transmission voice and data system Train-Office" "II - Specific Conditions" (document in portuguese), March 1999, 70 p. - Mietsch, F. "Cargo Rail Fleet Monitoring of Wagons and Multi-Modal Transport Boxes", DE- Consult, July 1999, 49 p. - Sistema de recolha e transmissão de voz e dados Train-Office - Relatório Final de Análise de Propostas, - Collection and transmission voice and data system Train-Office Final Report (document in portuguese), Fev 2000, 27 p. "#$ %&'(% %*+ )"*$,--./-,/ )(#%(56#%78/9%7:(;#%#:<=757=<<;>,--."7"#%:#?@$&<