The Anonymous Widower

‘Digital Twin’ To Support More Robust Timetable Planning

The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.

When I saw the title of this post, I was surprised that it was a newsworthy story.

I have been doing scheduling of people, machines and other resources since the late 1960s and creating print outs and graphs to help people to manage businesses from the early 1970s.

In so many cases, I’ve found digital models have given a great insight into the interactions between factors affecting the system.

So I would have expected train companies to all have a digital twin from at least 1980, especially as I know BT and other phone companies had digital models of their networks by that time.

If they don’t have a digital model of their network, how do train companies plan their timetables?

By trial and error!

Or do they start with marketing ideas like four trains per hour and then fit the timetable together like a jigsaw?

September 10, 2019 - Posted by AnonW | Computing, Transport/Travel | Greater Anglia, Simulation