Operations control systems in public transport

Interlocking systems capable of remote control have been available on the market for around fifty years. It was about thirty years ago that computers started their successful conquest of the market. For approximately twenty years, there have been programs and systems for simplifying the drawing up of timetables, for optimizing traffic flows and for the automatic control of movements. Within the periods of time mentioned, a vast range of systems have been created by a multiplicity of manufacturers. The problem is that these various systems do not generally work smoothly with one another, and, in extreme cases, they are not even capable of exchanging information. This book describes the state of the art as regards operations control systems in public transport. One facet of this work is that it gives due consideration to radically different patterns of operations around the world. There are, for instance, many long routes in the USA that have only five trains a day - all of them freight trains; there are routes in Europe that carry a great mixture of services with around three trains an hour; and there are underground and regional-express lines operating with a fixed headway of only two minutes. Adequate space has also been given to operations-control components for buses and trams. So this book is truly a compendium of operations control systems throughout public transport. Another key facet of the book is that it shows quite clearly that many of the requirements are very similar, despite the different modes of operation. If this finding is put to use in practice, it could lead to more strongly focused products in future. That is actually the book's working assumption, and it builds on it to present systems leading to integrated solutions by bringing together all the various requirements in a single system, which it calls an Operations Management Centre. On the other hand, the systems presented represent synthesized solutions, from which it is possible to piece together lower-priced systems with a limited number of components for transport operators whose operational requirements are less sophistic.