In order to have a more efficient underground transport and to improve staff and rolling stock management, the implementation of dispatch systems play a major role. Having a correct system planning will determine the quality of the operations and the fast intervention in any situation that leads to traffic disruption. Although a high number of underground transport operators use these systems mostly to optimize personnel activity, the benefits brought by the reduction in expenses will surely improve transport and personnel activity.
The transport operator can have a very short response time to fast changes and he will be able to collect operational data in order to supply the necessary information to the management systems, be it for personnel or for the vehicle workshop, in case the vehicle experiences technical malfunctions. The dispatch systems are necessary for the personnel and for the vehicles. The most important thing is to have the dispatch system connected in real-time to the information source of the vehicles – location, state etc.
The dispatch systems operate based on a given planning. The information related to future operations are provided in real-time to the driver and the vehicles. In this context, attributing this information depends upon certain regulations, starting from the relaxation time of the driver, restrictions (either daily or weekly) concerning the work time, qualifications; in the case of vehicles, the information refers to the situation of the maintenance works, restrictions (in km or time interval) etc.
Following the control and operational regulation, the dispatch system will supply all the necessary information about the management of the operations which can be used for financial applications and the elaboration of comparisons between the different planning charts in order to provide an efficient underground transport system.
By providing this information, the dispatch systems contribute to the improvement of underground transport.
“This system ensures stable functioning and it is also necessary for the efficient use of the resources. For instance, a dispatch system can provide information related to the activity of the driver in order to avoid overtime and a deficit in work hours. Seeing as work hours cannot be quantified exactly without the use of technological equipment, the use of a computer-based system and its optimization help reduce expenses”, said, for Railway Pro, Andreas Langenhan, Head of Business Development at IVU Traffic AG.
Just like in the case of personnel activity, when it comes to the vehicles, the dispatch systems reduce expenses by tracking the operation of the vehicle: for instance, all underground trains have to operate the same number of kilometres or some of them might operate a higher number of kilometres. The use of a computer-based system will help save resources (drivers or dispatchers) which could be used for other activities related to passenger services. An efficient dispatch system will improve the stability and quality of operations, which will determine an increase in transport attractiveness.
Although many underground transport operators use dispatch systems mostly to optimize personnel activities, the benefits brought by reducing expenses will determine the implementation of underground dispatch system on a larger scale (for instance the underground transport operator in Berlin), which is very useful in case of technical malfunctions or traffic disruption.
Connecting the dispatch system with the vehicle allows a real-time tracking of the location and actual functioning of the vehicles. Therefore, in order to supply information about the driver or the rolling stock, the best solution would be to use systems that allow drivers to use terminals or the Internet in order to have this communication. “This includes the possibility of providing an informational message (to the terminal or by using smartphones) concerning the activity of the driver. Also, the information related to any future changes will no longer be transferred using phones, but by using the WEB”, added Andreas Langenhan.
by Pamela Luică
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