Find out how artificial intelligence and video analytics could transform the performance and capacity of your railway.

Rail networks are awash with data. What if you could use that data to make better decisions and improve the passenger experience? Our Digital Solutions Zone is dedicated to data – and how you can use it to get more out of your network. 

Data-driven integrated OCC

The Operation Control Centre (OCC) is the nerve centre of the modern railway. Today’s OCCs gather raw data from thousands of sensors across the network to provide operators with a big picture of what’s happening. 

The problem is that the picture is often too big. With inputs from up to 500,000 sensors – a number that is growing all the time – data overload is a new challenge. Operators need ways to cut through the noise so they can focus on the information that really matters and make the best decisions as quickly as possible. 

Our data-driven integrated OCC meets this need. The product delivers full visualisation and control via a single human-machine interface. All wayside and onboard systems are just a click away. 

What makes the solution so powerful is that it combines different data streams – including video, SCADA and IoT – to enable powerful new features. An example is intrusion detection. This works by combining video analytics and traffic management so unauthorised track access can be detected and dealt with rapidly. 

In fact, Thales has defined more than 50 use cases for the data-driven integrated OCC. These include features to enhance passenger flow, boost operational performance, improve crisis management and achieve energy savings. 

NEW: Thales Passenger Density and Guidance

Nobody likes crowded trains and platforms. For passengers, crowding is one of the main causes of dissatisfaction. For operators, crowding is a concern because it adds to delays and can affect safety. Meanwhile, Covid-19 has brought the dangers of crowding into sharp focus for everyone.

The problem with crowding is that it is difficult to manage. First, how do you measure a crowd? Railways are complex and there are hundreds of locations to be monitored, including trains. Second, how do you steer passengers away from crowds? Even if you can detect crowding, you still need a way to guide passengers to less busy parts of platforms and trains. 

Thales is delighted to announce the launch of its new and powerful Artificial Intelligence product that measures crowd density and provides passenger guidance.

The beauty of the Passenger Density and Guidance product is that it uses existing CCTV cameras – on platforms and trains – to measure crowd density. No additional sensors are required. Passenger density is calculated in real time using video analytics and passenger guidance is provided via platform displays that show which carriages of an approaching train are busy and which are not (red, yellow and green colour coding is used to indicate density). Meanwhile, heat maps of stations and trains can be used in the OCC to monitor passenger movements across the entire system.

As well as improving passenger satisfaction, the product delivers operational benefits including dwell time reductions and optimised staff deployment. 

Cybersecurity

Recent years have seen an upsurge in cyberattacks on the rail sector. There were at least nine attacks against networks in Europe and North America between November 2016 and February 2020. Both metro and main line operators were targeted. Covid-19 is amplifying the risk, particularly with staff working off site. 

Cybersecurity is a differentiator for Thales. Our products and solutions are Cybersecured by Design, including signalling, train control, fare collection, communications and supervision systems. 

In parallel with this, we provide our customers with dedicated security services to keep pace with constantly evolving threats. We back this up with a worldwide network of more than 1,500 highly-qualified cybersecurity experts. 

Digital Services Platform

Digital services create huge opportunities for the rail industry. The public cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) business models are accelerators of digital transformation. Consistent and reliable environments are needed to quickly select, test and run applications. Meanwhile, ensuring cybersecurity can be a real challenge.

Thales’ Digital Services Platform provides a single, secure marketplace to explore our digital services ecosystem, with solutions such as predictive maintenance, logistics and data analytics. This self-service platform enables you to discover, learn and even try out some of our digital services for free, at a time which suits you.

The beauty of this platform is that it makes it easy to exploit synergies between the different applications in our digital services ecosystem. Our cloud-hosted platform is accessible from any place, at any time, and like all our solutions, is Cybersecured by Design.