To understand the art of what is possible and to deliver the aspiration, a strategy is required. We can help to develop network access strategies that cover all aspects of train service development, engineering access and performance analysis as well as impact assessments for rolling stock and train crew. We have experience of looking at the ‘big picture’ to support the delivery of major rail schemes.
The development of the timetable needs to consider the commercial, operational and infrastructure perspectives required to understand the art of what is possible. Through the use of established timetable planning tools and our operational knowledge we are able to develop both high-level standard hour high level timetable for both large and small projects.
The development of capacity studies looks at the complete combination of timetable and infrastructure combination to deliver a production quality timetable solution that takes into consideration the vying priorities of operators, contractual requirements, and engineering access. Our team has experience of developing capacity studies for large projects such as Northern Hub, Thameslink, and Crossrail through to more bespoke solutions that considered the introduction of a new station or service pattern changes.
The changes to infrastructure during small and major projects will ultimately have an effect on what train services can be delivered. Using standard and innovative modelling techniques we are able to understand what running times or number of trains per hour can be operated over a specific infrastructure design. We are able to understand what new timetable planning rules could be implemented as well as whether existing or new timetable could be operated. All infrastructure changes require modelling to support the Network Rail GRIP stage progression and we are happy to provide support in this area as well as engagement with all the relevant industry processes timetables at levels from standard hour through to production quality.
D2 has significant experience in undertaking performance modelling for both UK and international market using operational modelling tools such as RailSys and VISION. In addition, we have experience in supporting our clients with bespoke performance models to provide support during franchise bidding and contract negotiations. Our in-house software development provides additional support to develop new techniques to automate some of the data intensive task associated with modelling.
Both operators and authorities use data from performance regimes to understand the past current and predict future developments. D2 can provide support to authority to assist with re-calibration as well as providing analytics to help operators to display and interrogate any underlying trends. We have experience in using tools such as Power Bi, R and Python to automate performance dashboards and outputs.
There is a huge amount of data available in the Rail Industry a combination of data in and out of the public domain, understanding and utilising this data is often seen as skill of its own. The combination of data mining experts and rail operations allows us to understand the story behind the headlines. D2 can help to understand areas of improvement however big or small to deliver and report on a better performing railway.
