More Efficient Rail - PathFinder

One of the railway’s aims is to deliver better customer service. Much of the operating timetable is set many months in advance. But there is also a need to make very-short-term plans (VSTP) for train paths. Sometimes just hours in the future.

PathFinder aims to be an end-to-end solution for VSTP that can design, deliver, approve, and resource a new train path. In far less time than is currently possible. This IT solution has been developed by Worldline and Alstom, and trialled with South Western Railway and the Network Rail Wessex Route.

01:56 Marcus Carmichael describes how RSSB sees the performance challenge for the GB railway and the need for better VSTP.

04:05 Chris Prior and the role of the Train Running Controller.

05:38 James Hilder talks through the train planning process and timescales

06:57 The impact of lots of VSTP requests on network performance

08:33 How a completed VSTP is implemented

09:28 About Doug Short and PathFinder

12:56 Integration with stock and crew resource systems

13:55 Fully integrated workflow and approval stages

15:47 How far advanced is PathFinder and what gaps are there?

18:18 South Western Railway’s assessment of PathFinder

21:26 How RSSB R&D contributes to greater network performance.

23:15 Close

These may be of interest:

Podcast episode 29: More Efficient Rail Freight – Path Planner https://www.buzzsprout.com/925129/9907510

RSSB seeks innovative solutions to performance challenge (news article) https://www.rssb.co.uk/what-we-do/insights-and-news/news/RSSB-are-seeking-innovative-answers-to-GB-rails-performance-challenges

Pathfinder (I01-CLR-05): Applying machine learning from historical events and the current state of the railway to generate and validate new Very Short-Term Planning (VSTP) train schedules, and to amend existing ones. https://www.rssb.co.uk/research-catalogue/CatalogueItem/I01-CLR-05

Dynamic Freight Capacity Management [PathPlanner] (I01-CLR-04): Identification of unused train paths for use by freight services as part of the Very-Short-Term Planning (VSTP) system. https://www.rssb.co.uk/research-catalogue/CatalogueItem/I01-CLR-04

Assisted VSTP (I01-CLR-06): Enabling electronic Very Short-Term Planning (VSTP) requests, to improve efficiency and streamline communication. https://www.rssb.co.uk/research-catalogue/CatalogueItem/I01-CLR-06

PERFORM Research Programme—Launch Conference https://www.rssb.co.uk/what-we-do/key-industry-topics/performance/perform-successfully-launched-at-the-enabling-better-network-performance-conference

Improving PERFORMance Webinar Series: https://www.rssb.co.uk/what-we-do/key-industry-topics/performance/improving-performance-webinar-series

Blog: Can Machine Learning Improve Railway Operational Performance? https://www.rssb.co.uk/what-we-do/insights-and-news/blogs/can-machine-learning-improve-railway-operational-performance