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Happier passengers and lower energy bills are just two of the benefits of our new data-driven Operation Control Centres for railways.

 

The Operation Control Centre (OCC) is the heart of the railway – and decisions made in the OCC touch every part of your journey, from the moment you step onto the platform until you reach your destination.

The scope of OCC operations is vast. To put this in context, OCCs take care of passenger security and they control all the auxiliary systems, from escalators to lifts, lighting and ventilation. On top of this, they handle passenger information and manage power supplies. Last but not least, OCCs supervise and regulate all the trains – a huge job in its own right. 

Could OCCs be improved?

Railway operators face two big technical challenges. The first is data overload. Put simply, there is now so much data flooding into OCCs that it is sometimes difficult to make sense of it all. Video is an example. A large metro may have more than 10,000 CCTV cameras. How do you identify the video that matters?

It’s not just video. Just about every railway asset – from lifts to point machines – is now an IoT (Internet of Things) device.  In fact, there can be up to half a million such devices linked to the OCC. All of them generate data. How can this be used to deliver value?

The second major challenge is fragmentation. In a conventional OCC, vital functions such as traffic management, passenger information and power supervision are scattered across separate systems. This makes it difficult to achieve synergies and it adds to lifecycle costs.

To overcome these problems, operators need an OCC architecture that allows easy integration between different systems. What’s more, they need big data tools to get the most out of the deluge of data that is now available. 

The solution: Thales’ data-driven integrated OCC

Our new data-driven OCC is designed to meet our customers’ big ambitions. Instead of wrestling with multiple silo systems, all applications are seamlessly integrated on a single cybersecured platform. Fragmentation is eliminated. 

On top of this, it’s designed to help you get the most out of your data. Deploying advanced digital solutions, like video analytics, is easy. Here are just a few examples of how our data-driven integrated OCC can help both operators and passengers:

Boost performance

Thanks to our single human-machine interface (HMI), all wayside and onboard systems are just a click away. Routine tasks are automated, reducing workload, minimising the risk of human error and allowing one operator to supervise multiple applications – all from the same HMI. 

Make the best decisions, faster 

Our advanced video analytics solutions allow you to detect everything from track intrusion to violent events automatically. And we provide you with tools to manage any crisis. These include decision procedure lists with full functional integration, so you can take control of a crisis the moment it happens. 

Help your passengers avoid crowds

Our Passenger Density & Guidance solution shows people waiting on platforms which carriages of the approaching train are busy and which are not. Data from the solution, which uses video analytics, can also be used in the OCC to monitor crowding anywhere on the network – on trains or platforms. 

Big data maintenance tools

Our analytics-driven predictive maintenance service for metro and main line operators, TIRIS, uses IoT data to provide an early warning of problems so assets can be fixed before they fail, including point machines, axle counters, track circuits and interlocking equipment.

Energy savings

OCC functions save power by staggering train departures, optimising train speed, and synchronising train arrivals and departures so you can maximise regenerative braking. And new data-driven tools help you to reduce the electricity consumed by station auxiliaries.

Cybersecured by Design

Complete integration of the OCC makes it possible to define a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, while the platform itself is Cybersecured by Design to provide the maximum level of assurance, backed up with authentication and encryption tools.

Full flexibility

Although our OCC platform is fully integrated with all the subsystems, operators are free to choose how they want to manage the lifecycle of each of those subsystems. Operators are not “locked in” with a complete package they have to change all at once.

The future

OCC evolution never stops. The next generation of Intelligent Multimodal Operation Control Centres will be designed to coordinate all forms of mobility across cities, regions and even nations using technologies such as AI and 5G.

 

To learn more about data-driven integrated OCC, read our white paper