Real-time dispatching in railways

Railway operations don’t always go according to plan: a railway may have solid resource plans in place, but an unexpected event, especially common in the winter period, can quickly create a deep disruption in the service.

Situations such as a tree on the track, a breakdown or a driver not showing up, are a tough test to any company. But the dispatchers’ capability to make the best resource dispatching decisions in the shortest time possible in a moment of great pressure is the ultimate test and also where the problem solving begins.

With passenger satisfaction in mind and the restoring of service as a priority, dispatchers need the most updated information and tools to assist them in making the best and quickest service recovery choices.

SISCOG, the software company specialising in software solutions for optimised planning and management of resources in transportation companies, is already helping railways through Europe cope with such events.

With SISCOG’s Real-time Dispatching software modules, dispatchers are able to handle disruptions in a timely way through the day, minimizing the influence and propagation of incidents throughout the operation. In this process, long-term planning aspects are also considered automatically, for example the labour rules or rolling stock constraints and availabilities. At the end of the day, keeping track of the plan changes is easy as all modifications are communicated to the relevant systems.

Companies such as the Danish, Dutch, Norwegian or Finnish railways already benefit from using SISCOG’s real-time dispatching tools.