Improving Passenegr safety through the provision of Crowding information on all British RailwayTrains

RASIC Ltd has been researching how to predict rail demand to improve operational responses to train delays and long-term timetable planning to better meet passenger needs. Even in today's technological world that rail operators and passengers often rely upon legacy systems to help them plan the timetable (short and long-term) and manage the flow of information. This means train operators rely on forecast models to plan future timetables (often as long as two years in advance) and struggle to make timely decisions in real-time during perturbation which, leads to passenger dissatisfaction. We identified that there was a need to gather data and predict demand and the likelihood of crowding at stations and on-trains so that we can improve decision-making in real-time and in the future. This need will be greater in a post-COVID19 transport system in order to make travelling by public transport safer.

We have developed a tool that will allow railway operators to access real time passenger demand and travel behaviours to allow demand-responsive timetabling in response to COVID19 and future pandemics. The product has been developed for the infrastructure and railway operators in the U.K.

We are now creating a new customer facing version for journey planners and websites. The focus of our product will be to launch a new tool in assisting getting populations back to economic activities (work and education) but, doing so in a safe manner and, also in a sustainable way by supporting and encouraging the use of public transport.

Our product aims to make the traveller safe in a post-COVID19 environment and put them in control of how and when they made their journey through the use of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence. In continuing to support recovery from the COVID19 pandemic it is imperative that we continue to encourage public transport. A significant reason for this is the need to build on the recent reductions in air pollution and aid recovering COVID19 survivors.