13/12/2010
Europeans face less disruption when travelling by train this summer,
thanks to a research project that has received ?2.6 million of EU funding.
From 2006 to 2009, researchers from 12 universities (in Greece, Spain,
Italy, Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands) and French railway
company SNCF (Soci?t? Nationale des Chemins de fer Fran?ais) worked on the
ARRIVAL project, under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Christos Zaroliagis
from the Research Academic Computer Tecnology Institute (CTI), University
of Patras.
The ARRIVAL project has developed advanced software that schedules
trains more efficiently and handles disruptions, as they happen in real
time, more effectively while maintaining the same level of safety. The
results of this research are already being applied by railway operators
across Europe to ensure more efficient use of rail networks, in terms of
both timetabling and dealing with unforeseen disruptions.
ARRIVAL's success is based on the development of new algorithms that can
be used to organise railway infrastructure management more efficiently:
from train scheduling, platform allocation, staff distribution and
freight loads to dealing with disruptions such as train rerouting or
rescheduling as they happen in real time. The algorithms developed have
potential applications in other areas such as road traffic navigation
systems, industrial work-flow systems, e-commerce, peer to peer
networks, grid computing networks and healthcare.
The ARRIVAL project has already been successfully implemented in The
Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. For example, ARRIVAL algorithms
were used to draw up a new timetable for the Dutch national railway
system which handles 5500 trains per day; it is now one of Europe's most
efficient railway networks. In Berlin, the waiting time between trains
on the U-Bahn underground network has been reduced from 4 to 2 minutes
thanks to the application of ARRIVAL algorithms. Swiss railways have
implemented an optimal planning schedule, based on ARRIVAL algorithms,
for additional trains on high-risk corridors where both freight and
passenger trains operate.
Other railway operators across Europe are interested in implementing
this technology. Trials in Italy at the Palermo and Genoa train stations
have resulted in a 25% reduction in delays. By improving railway
efficiency, this new algorithm technology delivers benefits to all
Europeans using trains. On average, every European travels nearly 800 km
per year by train.
Source: European Commission
Greece in EU R&D
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