THE "TRAIN OFFICE": A KEY FACTOR IN INCREASING THE QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF RAIL SERVICES

Investment in new information and communication systems enables passenger and freight transport planning to be optimised by means of automatic vehicle fleet and service rostering. The ability to control and define transport procedures at all times in the event of a problem is also an important issue. This paper presents the results of a study on this issue and describes the implementation, by CP-Portuguese Railways, of the first phase of a system expected to produce a series of benefits in the form of increased rail operator productivity and customer service quality. Benefits include real time access to transport information, the ability to inform customers about the status of the transport service at all times, the possibility of reacting to new transport demands, improvement of personnel management and optimisation of the rolling stock fleet. The system has been developed to provide both a basis for monitoring rail operations and also the infrastructure for collecting and processing information. It will be supported by GPS and GSM solutions to meet the technical requirements of fleet management. The system involves tracking by means of GPS and data communication via CSM. Moreover, this system will enable implementation of other standards such as GALILEO, GPRS, GSM-R or UTMS, as soon as they become available. For the covering abstract see ITRD E117504.