Operations management
Planning disruptionbeats
Specialist operations management tools are designed to oversee all aspects of an operator’s activities with the aim of improving the performance, reliability and availability of services. Kevin Smith and Anitra Green look at the systems delivered by Quintiq and Alstom to NTV.
Florence, Rome and Naples on April 28 2012, the world’s first open-access high- speed operator has regularly reported monthly punctuality figures in excess of 95% even as new services to Turin and Salerno have been added. However, these results are not left to chance. NTV, like many train operators around the world which base their reputations on strong punctuality figures, is carefully managing its fleet of 25 Alstom AGV high-speed trains and 800 personnel right down to the minute details using a comprehensive operations management system. Supplied by Quintiq, the Supply
S IRJ April 2013
INCE the first bright red NTV high-speed trains commenced revenue operation between Milan,
Chain Planning and Optimisation module used by NTV is effectively divided into two; one side oversees the operations of its trains, and the other personnel. Both elements complement each other and are based around the ultimate schedule and dictator of when things can happen: NTV’s timetable. Mr Giancarlo Broggio, a senior consultant at Quintiq, explains that if a train is leaving Rome to travel to Milan at 09.00, plans must be in place for this train to be both positioned and crewed sufficiently in order for it to leave on time.
“It will require one driver, two train managers, three onboard stewards, two platform dispatch staff at each station the train stops, as well staff to carry out
turnaround activities,” he says. “The system actively supports the planner to define all of these allocations in advance and is designed to be updated in real-time to provide up-to- the minute forecasts of train schedules based on information provided by Italian Rail Network (RFI). During a day of operations it receives hundreds of messages and manages operations according to this updated schedule.” In instances where severe delays are impacting services, Broggio says the system calculates and allocates over- time to staff as required. Indeed the planning system manages everything from the employees’ schedule to their actual worked hours which is sent to NTV’s human resources module to
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Photo: Joe Calisi
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