Crew Rostering for the High Speed Train

At the time of writing we entered the final stage of implementing the crew rostering system Harmony CDR to facilitate the planning of catering crews on board of the Thalys, the High Speed Train connecting Paris, Cologne, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Geneva. Harmony CDR optimally supports the creation of crew rosters in two ways. Firstly, Harmony CDR contains a powerful algorithm to automatically generate a set of rosters, which is especially developed for this specific situation. As the user has some control over the objectives of the algorithm, several scenarios can be studied before a set of rosters is adopted. An important feature of the automatic roster generator is that it respects requirements, directives, and requests stemming from legal, union, and/or company regulations and/or from individual crew. Secondly, Harmony CDR provides user-interface data manipulation at various levels of detail. The user interface enables the planner to easily obtain many different views on the planning data and to manipulate the planning manually. So again, the planner gets optimal support from the system while he or she is still in control. Also, violating a requirement, directive, or request is detected and displayed, but can be accepted by the planner. In this paper we describe the crew rostering problem for the catering crews of the High Speed Train and the Harmony CDR solution in more detail.decision support systems;railways;crew rostering

High speed train communications systems using free space optics

In this work, we propose a broad-band free space optical (FSO) wireless communications system for high-speed trains. The system consists of optical transceivers positioned outside the train and along the railway track. The train receivers are in the coverage area of base stations positioned along the railway track to ensure continuous link availability. In this paper, we present modelling of two cases for over-ground and underground train systems before embarking to practically implement the system in our research laboratory. Also discussed is the protocol for the data distribution along the track as well as the initial experimental demonstration of the proposed link

Statistical identification of geometric parameters for high speed train catenary

Pantograph/catenary interaction is known to be strongly dependent on the static geometry of the catenary, this research thus seeks to build a statistical model of this geometry. Sensitivity analyses provide a selection of relevant parameters affecting the geometry. After correction for the dynamic nature of the measurement, provide a database of measurements. One then seeks to solve the statistical inverse problem using the maximum entropy principle and the maximum likelihood method. Two methods of multivariate density estimations are presented, the Gaussian kernel density estimation method and the Gaussian parametric method. The results provide statistical information on the significant parameters and show that the messenger wire tension of the catenary hides sources of variability that are not yet taken into account in the model

Crew Rostering for the High Speed Train

At the time of writing we entered the final stage of implementing the crew rostering system Harmony CDR to facilitate the planning of catering crews on board of the Thalys, the High Speed Train connecting Paris, Cologne, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Geneva. Harmony CDR optimally supports the creation of crew rosters in two ways. Firstly, Harmony CDR contains a powerful algorithm to automatically generate a set of rosters, which is especially developed for this specific situation. As the user has some control over the objectives of the algorithm, several scenarios can be studied before a set of rosters is adopted. An important feature of the automatic roster generator is that it respects requirements, directives, and requests stemming from legal, union, and/or company regulations and/or from individual crew. Secondly, Harmony CDR provides user-interface data manipulation at various levels of detail. The user interface enables the planner to easily obtain many different views on the planning data and to manipulate the planning manually. So again, the planner gets optimal support from the system while he or she is still in control. Also, violating a requirement, directive, or request is detected and displayed, but can be accepted by the planner. In this paper we describe the crew rostering problem for the catering crews of the High Speed Train and the Harmony CDR solution in more detail

The Economic Impact of the High-Speed Train on Urban Regions

The impact of new transport systems depends on the spatial behaviour of urban actors. Connection to the High-Speed Train (HST)-network implies a reduction of the generalised transportation costs and thus an extension of the maximum acceptable transportation distances of actors. Individuals can either travel further or reach their destinations earlier; it means that their relevant region has become larger. With more welfare elements available within their relevant region, their welfare potential will increase. To improve their competitive edge in a service and information economy, cities have to have high grade (international) facilities, and to be attractive and well accessible. To achieve this, the urban actors involved have to strive for several kinds of balance. The advent of the HST can contribute to achieving these balances. It can inter alia play an important role in improving simultaneously the quality of urban life and the accessibility of city centres, and stimulating the development of diversified districts. The HST-connection can have a catalysing effect on a regional economy (it draws new activities and thus causes a region's economy to grow), or a facilitating effect (the new infrastructure will accommodate economic growth that is already in progress in an urban region). The advent of the HST can be beneficial to those cities that already hold a strong competitive position. They normally already have a relatively high economic potential and attractive location factors for new service companies and well-educated residents. Both these advantages will be further enhanced by the improving external accessibility. In weaker urban regions, the advent of the HST can be an opportunity to improve their competitive position and to obtain a higher position in the European urban hierarchy. The improving external accessibility may help to enhance their economic potential and location factors. However, a precondition for economic growth and renewal for these cities will be that this economic potential exceeds a certain critical (sometimes psychological) level. When it does not, the improved external accessibility may also lead to backwash effects (for instance, companies moving out of the urban region concerned, since their local markets will no longer be protected by transport barriers). Therefore, the advent of the HST is likely to particularly stimulate these weaker regions to improve their economic attractiveness.