Deutsche Bahn AG

Accurate on-time travel information for a better railway service

How can a railway operator ensure continuously accurate travel information across all its communication channels with 40,000 trains passing through 5,700 stations each day? Germany’s national railway company Deutsche Bahn AG (often referred to as DB) found the answer using the technology and research know-how of Gofore’s subsidiary eMundo.

THE CHALLENGE

How to feed all information channels with current travel information from a single source and via one platform

Each day, over 200 million messages circulate within Deutsche Bahn’s rail network. These are captured via tracks, the signalling system, and train attendants’ apps. The resulting travel information, such as arrival times, platform changes, and wagon sequences, then appear on the “DB Navigator” app, bahn.de, on a screen inside the train or a large display board at the station.

To make this unimaginable amount of data available to passengers in a consistently accurate and prompt manner, a central platform had to be developed – one that collects data in real time and automatically prepares it for use on different kinds of communication channels.

Required were the skills in technical and professional conception, possessed by Gofore’s subsidiary eMundo. Together with Deutsche Bahn and its partners, processes for administering travel information were meant to be automated, modernised and rethought in a customer-centric way.

Storms, heavy rainfall, and rush hour traffic may cause delays or track changes. It may happen that the train arrives at the platform the “wrong way round” in reverse wagon order. With the right technology, these types of adverse events can be displayed accurately and promptly throughout, whether on the display panel at the station, DB Navigator or inside the train.

THE APPROACH

Developing, integrating, and testing new functionalities during uptime

The project was created from scratch without any existing technical template or organisational base. The team experimented, looked for answers abroad, for example in the USA, and trialled advanced technologies.

13 different cross-departmental teams worked simultaneously on numerous functionalities, which they instantly integrated and examined in a live-test. This meant that adjustments could be done swiftly while ensuring the continuous development of a viable technology with a low error ratio.

At the same time, regular status updates and comprehensive planning discussions encouraged transparency. Coordination discussions took place between the individual specialist teams in which proposed solutions were developed and synchronised.

“eMundo does not create so-called ‘islands of knowledge’; they pass on technology know-how and anchor it within the railway company.”

Stephanie Mehta, Deutsche Bahn AG

THE RESULT

Reliable travel information across every channel all at once

Deutsche Bahn ended up with an internal, customised IT platform that creates fully automated forecasts for rail operations based on historical data from various information sources. As a result, all communication channels – from the display board to acoustic announcements – are fed with one and the same travel information.

Deutsche Bahn can now update passengers in real time on reversed wagon sequences, last-minute platform changes or any other deviations from the original schedule. As a result, the platform is seen as a quality feature for the rail service.

The solution is easily scaled. With zero downtime, multiple new functionalities can be implemented directly each day, without technical interruptions. New digital services can thus be provided quickly, functionally, and cost-effectively.

The collaboration

New ways of digitalising the railway business

Gofore’s subsidiary eMundo and Deutsche Bahn have a long-standing relationship. The collaboration originally revolved around technical development projects in IT, until a strategic realignment around travel information was initiated in 2015.

With the development of the new platform, eMundo helped Deutsche Bahn take another step towards digitalisation. When it comes to travel information, the train company is technically and professionally equipped for the future – with a technology that had not yet been widely applied in the European market.

The platform was delivered within budget and on schedule. It now serves as the source for all products of systematisation, analysis, and data management.