Single point of Truth for Germany’s train passengers
In 2015, the organisation Passenger Information of Deutsche Bahn (DB) launched an extensive project to improve the quality of passenger information, that would benefit all rail customers travelling in Germany.
Improve digital travelling experience
As a train traveler in Germany you might know the issue: You arrive at the train station and notice that the destination board shows a different departure time than what the app says. Have you also experienced that and wondered why the same information isn’t displayed everywhere? The answer: Up until now, DB’s multitude of data sources and their various information channels were not fully coordinated.
“Single point of Truth”
About four years ago, DB Passenger Information decided to develop a unified platform for passenger information. At the heart of the new system is Big Data technology, which is used to collect the various data from existing systems. The plan is to create a “Single Point of Truth” (SPOT), i.e. a central data platform. From there, the information gets distributed to all connected channels in order to provide railway customers with consistent information.
CI/CD pipe line helped on the way
The primary task was to implement the Single Point of Truth, which distributes the information consistently across all information channels and touchpoints. However, the initial situation had a few challenges. For example, the data had to be acquired from numerous different sources, some with very complex interfaces. Protocols and data formats from proprietary solutions were partly obsolete, which made consolidation even more difficult. At the same time, technological consistency also had to be implemented, thanks to an automated CI/CD pipeline (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery), system interruptions or unavailability have now been virtually eliminated.
Where are the trains? – without GPS signals
Another challenge was that the trains are not clearly marked, a GPS signal is only available for a few models. It is also difficult to identify which physical wagon is located at which point. Due to this highly complicated business logic, it was extraordinarily time-consuming to connect the data to the SPOT.
“It took us a while to acquire the necessary domain knowledge we needed to work the complex technical contexts into the platform,”
says Tobias Buser, Teamlead Development in Applications at The unbelievable Machine Company.
He’s excited to be part of such a challenging project of digital transformation.
Machine Learning for accuracy
In particular, the division and unification of trains is not easy to represent logically. For this reason, the project uses machine learning to identify, for example, in which direction a train travels, where it separates or merges.
The corresponding system architecture which is based on a timetable builder had to be developed. It generates a complete target timetable, combining the customer timetable and the so-called operating timetable. This target timetable is used to create short-term timetable changes as well as real-time data such as train position messages from the track sensors.
“For the first time, we were able to generate a consolidated view of data from completely independent systems,” explains Tobias Buser.
Microservices for consolidating data sources
Microservices are now used to consolidate data from various sources, evaluate it and then stream it consistently to information channels such as platform displays and kiosk systems at stations or the DB Navigator. One of the first customer-effective milestones: track changes are now recognized more reliably and measurably earlier with the help of the processed data.
New passenger information platform
The basis part of the project has been realized so far, the “really cool” features will follow in the next years. The platform is already running 24/7 and is able to provide all systems with information. The next concrete step is to roll-out the “hardware” new passenger information platform.
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Contact us
For more information please contact Stefan Månsby: stefan.mansby@basefarm.com
About The unbelievable Machine Company a Basefarm group company:
The unbelievable Machine Company GmbH (*um) is the leading full-service provider for ambitious digital projects. The specialist for Big Data (Data Science and Data Engineering) and Cloud Services develops precise solutions for individual entrepreneurial challenges and delivers impact to the most renowned brands in automotive, retail, e-commerce, online services, media and many more industries. Gartner recognised *um as “Cool Vendor” in the category “Information Infrastructure & Big Data”. ISG/Experton has awarded *um as “Big Data Leader” and “Data Analytics Leader”. As a member of Basefarm Group (an Orange Business Services company), *um offers high-quality local services with a global Europe-based infrastructure. Founded in 2008, the team has grown to 150 Unbelievables in Berlin, Frankfurt and Vienna. www.unbelievable-machine.com
