NVBW - Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg mbH
Connection guarantees as an important component for quality in public transport
Fehler: Bildgröße für /images/cases/connection-fuse-for-the-nvbw/divers-1-.png konnte nicht ermittelt werden.
A powerful, attractive and reliable public transport system is at the heart of a successful transport revolution. In addition to the punctuality of trains and buses, ensuring that connections run as scheduled is a very important factor in shaping passengers' confidence in public transport.
Scarce resources – an obstacle to reliable travel information
Unfortunately, the control centres of railway companies in Germany are currently very busy and therefore focus primarily on operational processes in the event of disruptions. This means that there is usually not enough time to provide comprehensive passenger information and secure travel chains. The situation has worsened in recent years as DB Netz AG, the operator of the rail network, has abandoned its previous role of coordinating connections between trains – a practice that had been standard for over a century. This has made coordination between the control centres of the individual companies considerably more complex and has not yet been implemented across the board. As a result, connections are often no longer guaranteed today, and the needs of passengers are increasingly being overlooked.
Digital assistants to support staff
The NVBW, as a service company of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport, has therefore commissioned us to develop an integrated system for connection assurance that can be used across companies.
The system consists of a web application that is made available to the control centres of all companies. It also includes an app for vehicles that shows drivers whether and how long they have to wait to ensure connections from delayed feeder services. Both applications are developed as open source software. They are made available to all companies free of charge via the NVBW.
In the background, the system processes scheduled data and real-time data. The scheduled connections are derived from the scheduled data, taking into account the transfer times between two journeys. The real-time data is then used to generate information on how long to wait for feeder services. The web application provides the control centre with very detailed information about which connections are guaranteed and which have to be broken due to excessive time differences. The app for drivers shows the waiting times without further details in order to avoid any unnecessary distractions.
The technical basis: TRALIS as a data hub
Our TRALIS data hub is used to process and analyse target and real-time data. TRALIS is optimised to integrate even large amounts of data, analyse it with minimal latency and output it back to the customer systems. The app and web app are supplied with data from TRALIS via specialised WebSocket and REST interfaces (standard interfaces such as VDV 453 were not used for communication within the system for performance reasons). The backend is operated on classic rental servers, with automated deployment allowing for short-term horizontal scaling if required.
Looking ahead: from the pilot phase to productive use
Both tools are currently in the pilot phase. Various minor optimisations are already planned, such as more differentiated consideration of transfer times. Above all, however, interfaces to the companies' ITCS are to be established so that connection security is directly available in dispatching. Use is still limited to railway companies, but an expansion to other modes of transport is already planned. It remains to be seen whether the current deterministic approach to recommending waiting times will suffice in the long term. It may be necessary to supplement simulations of various scenarios in order to enable as many travellers as possible to reach their destinations quickly and safely.
«With these two applications, we can provide staff in both control centres and on trains with the necessary information about connections in a targeted manner. The applications have a very successful, clear design that is well received by users and shows that the user's perspective played a central role in their development. In addition, we already have further developments in the pipeline, such as precise transfer times and the inclusion of additional modes of transport.»
Marius Welle, Marius Welle – Quality Management, NVBW
