More than ever, technology has installed an expectation within us all for up to date, reliable information to be made available to us in all aspects of our lives – at any given time. This is especially true when it comes to planning a journey and the pressure that comes with successfully getting from A to B.
Gone are the days of only using one mode of transport on your chosen route. Now, journeys can increasingly include a variety of different modes.
From journey planning at home with the National Rail Online Journey Planner to checking the time of a train on a platform using data powered by Darwin, our trusted digital transportation aids are helping keep passengers better informed at all times and enabling multi-modal mobility to be achieved.
Using real-time information, we help millions of passengers to plan their journeys and make better, more informed decisions every day, which is improving customer satisfaction, helping to manage capacity and enable problems to be seamlessly overcome as they arise.
Supporting journey planning and ensuring smooth network operations with Darwin
In 2003, it was challenging for train operating companies to keep passengers informed about departures and delays. The technology required to provide real-time information as an interconnected system simply did not exist, a challenge that gave birth to project Darwin.
Darwin is a Thales backend system that provides real-time information to station departures board, as well as relevant apps and websites regarding the departure details of trains. Serving more than 2,000 stations, the Darwin system collates information gathered from trackside sensors in a central location.
Taking National Rail’s scheduled timetable, it enriches it with real-time train movement information from across the network to support journey planning.
In a single year, Darwin can process over 1 billion requests for information. With the rise in travel apps and web sites and a growing expectation of accurate information on-demand, the eminently scalable Darwin engine is now more important than ever.
Keeping passengers up to date and informed with the National Rail Online Journey Planner
Passengers expect to be able to access timely, accurate information anytime, anywhere, so that they can plan their journeys and achieve multi-modal mobility.
Since 2003, Thales has kept passengers informed with real-time information on station departures boards, apps and websites regarding the departure details of trains, using the National Rail Enquiries’ Online Journey Planner (OJP).
Thales’s data system, Darwin, provides the OJP with up to date information on train departures, delays and incidents, using the information that it gathers from trackside sensors.
Due to the accuracy and reliability of the service, the OJP is now known as the definitive source of customer information for the National Rail network across England, Wales and Scotland. It offers step-by-step detailed journey planning between any two locations, as well as fare information (including cheapest tickets), ticket sales and a great deal more. Made possible by Darwin, the service handles billions of requests each year.
Keeping track of engineering works and upgrades with the National Rail Communication Centre
To keep today’s busy rail network flowing smoothly, staff and passengers need to stay up to date and informed about engineering works, the progress of upgrades and disruptions to services.
The National Rail Communication Centre (NRCC) manages the day to day distribution of rail-related information updates and keeps social media accounts up to date with timely news and information for journey planning.
To notify its communications, NRCC uses data from Thales’ Darwin solution, which collates real-time train movement data from trackside sensors. This ensures its information is accurate and up to date at all times.
Thales provides the overall commercial, service and contractual management of the NRCC.
Using data-driven insight to improve passenger satisfaction with Rail Life
Customer feedback is essential for railway operations management. It can inform investment decisions, help tailor segmented passenger communications and provide actionable insights into customer satisfaction.
Rail Life puts passengers first by giving them a platform to provide real-time feedback to operators. Whether it’s a case of arranging cleaning or giving praise, Rail Life gives passengers a voice, whilst providing new levels of timely data-driven insight to inform railway operations management.
Key benefits to train operating companies include the:
- Capture of balanced passenger sentiment in a way that existing methods do not
- Identification of actionable insights in a way that existing methods are unable to
- Use of sentiment to validate if transformation activities are having their intended effect and better inform future investment decisions
- Use of sentiment to understand customer segmentation to inform personalised communication with passengers
- Use of insights to influence both strategic and operational decisions