COMMENT
needs to be from a customer user viewpoint, creating a mode of transport passengers would choose above all alternatives. This means eliminating the significant gaps that exist currently between customer expectations and service delivery.
It is important to start with an understanding of where we are today, because it provides a baseline for establishing just how much our railways must change if they are to be all of the things expected of them.
Ideally, I want the person choosing rail to feel as individual and in control of their journey as if they were driving in their car. For example, this means being able to choose a seat with privacy or together with friends; to recreate the experience of being in an office or mingling with a happy crowd; or choosing a seat with extra space for them or their belongings, or more economically with more limited room. And to be able to select a guaranteed seat up to a few minutes before a train is due.
I also want them to have real time information at their fingertips all the way through their journey, alerting them to move from concourse shopping to the platform just in time for their train. And not just anywhere on the platform,
About the IET 2014 Sir Henry Royce Memorial Lecture
‘Britain’s Rail Future – User focused, technology driven and engineering led’ is this year’s IET Sir Henry Royce Memorial Lecture. It will be delivered by Professor Andrew McNaughton FREng, chief engineer and technical director for HS2, who passionately believes that success in transforming Britain’s railways to become the transport of choice for coming generations relies absolutely on matching future passenger and freight users’ expectations.
Drawing on examples of leading edge practice
but to guide them to the place where the door of the train nearest their allocated seat will be when it stops. And then to be greeted by name by the staff on-board, who know exactly who is travelling and whether or not they have any special requirements, because their systems are fully connected to passenger and operational control systems.
Moreover, the system will alert the passenger when the train is arriving at their stop, and will then guide them to connecting transport with the same fidelity. And on the rare occasion of perturbation, the system will re-plan that passenger’s specific journey, not advise them to ‘use alternative routes’.
Such a system will also adjust the speed of trains, and connecting ones, to optimise flow through key stations and junctions, thus ensuring minor delays never get in the way of the passenger’s seamless journey while reducing the energy use of the railway through the smoother running of trains.
Intelligent by design
In my Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) lecture I will be discussing how future station and rail system design
from around the world and his own 40 years of operational and engineering experience, he will take a practical ‘systems of systems’ approach to charting the way forward. He will also explain how much has to change and describe radical evolutionary solutions based on social needs, technological possibilities and engineering common sense, as well as emphasising the engineering profession’s leadership responsibility.
The IET’s 2014 Sir Henry Royce Memorial Lecture is being held on 25 September 2014 at the Royal Institution, London.
For more information visit:
www.theiet.org/henry-royce
should ensure that passengers do not need to wait on the platform for their train. The aim is to provide an informed and high-quality service such that passengers are confident they can arrive at the station five minutes before the train is due. Should they have a problem at the last minute and miss their train, they automatically have a reserved seat on the next one.
For freight, delivering the railway system of the future effectively comes down to providing the same type of experience. Because freight is about logistics, and at its essence, people are self-loading freight. So the core concepts discussed previously still apply – i.e. easy, convenient, and utterly reliable, dependable, and secure.
It is important to consider what the delivery of this type of customer experience will mean for the train operator. Technical elements and training, staff and staff roles, and operational processes also have to come into play, as does the engineering of the system, including the IT solutions needed. For example, how does the IT that delivers passenger information integrate with the IT that controls the train and handles operational issues?
Ultimately, it is about delivering intelligent infrastructure, and bringing together myriad engineering disciplines – mechanical, electronic, civil, and others. Naturally, some of the capabilities outlined will come with significant cost; others will cost very little. The crucial point is that the technology exists to deliver all of this today.
Global view
Last year, the Central Japan Railway Company introduced its ‘N700 Advanced’ high-speed train, which included a form of automatic train operation that allows the network control system to manage the trains’ progress even more accurately through a journey than their Continued overleaf >
rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 14 | 25
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