I. Vehicle Controlling of BEG (Bavarian Railway Company) – ETC breaks new ground in Germany
Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian State Minister for Home, Construction and Transport Affairs:
“The greatest challenge that we are facing in the railway sector today is the massive investment backlog.
As far as the regional rail system is concerned, we will only be able to face and to successfully manage this challenge in the long run by means of more money, i.e. higher regionalisation funds.
Following lengthy, intense and difficult debates, this opinion is nowadays shared by the Federal Government, too. […] This is a good basis for the continued dynamic development of local public transport in Bavaria.
After the outbreak of the financial crisis at the end of 2008 and responding to the thus resulting need, customers in the regional rail transport sector, having large network volumes in mind, have started to support the financing of their vehicles, the major cost items, with instruments of their own.
This support was, and still is necessary in large networks to create a level playing field among the DB AG and its competitors. In Bavaria, this balance is achieved by granting capital service guarantees from the federal Land.
As a consequence of this commitment, guarantors consider it to be their duty to closely monitor and control the intrinsic value of the vehicles. To maintain the value, however, means to “realise the value” of the rolling material, as scheduled. This can be achieved, among other measures, by closely controlling and monitoring the fabrication and reception of the vehicles to minimise the risk of unpleasant surprises in terms of quality (fatigue strength).
With the beginning of this year, the Bavarian Railway Company (BEG) relies on external expertise, which is provided by ETC, KCW and four highly experienced vehicle experts.
Presently, the controlling assignment that has been concluded for a duration of 14 year covers three partial networks: Diesel network Allgäu, Diesel network Augsburg I as well as the S-train Nürnberg. This last one is one of special interest, as the legal dispute concerning the intended contract award to National Express seems to be a never-ending story. However, final judgement is said to be imminent.
If National Express wins this dispute, it can be expected that – against the background of political reactions that have been manifested in the Franconia region up to now – the reliability of this new actor and of its rail vehicles will be particularly eyed.
As far as the Diesel network Allgäu is concerned, the Controlling-Group has successfully constituted in the month of June with DB Regio. Internal rules of procedure and information processes will be coordinated during the month of October.
This project will produce a nationwide response among all responsible bodies since it has a pilot function.
For this reason, ETC is optimistic and convinced that it is well positioned to face further tendering procedures for controlling services in the rail vehicle sector. mhy
II. Optimisation of Energy Processes with DatNet
With the support of the DatNet Energy Management Module, the entire communication with your energy supplier concerning energy forecast and energy billing can be simplified and fully automated.
To do so, energy consumptions during train journeys and pertinent billing data are incorporated from external systems via import interfaces, e.g. from the TEMA-boxes of the rail vehicles.
Energy consumption forecasts, energy consumption of the previous year as well as traction capacity data are sent to the appropriate recipients via specific interfaces (e.g. DB Energie).
Hence, automated market communication is directly carried out via the processes of the DatNet EM-tool by XML format. This tool had been introduced in the scope of the further developed network access model dated November 1st, 2015 by DB Energie.
To establish a forecast calculation of the daily and annual energy consumption, the parameter of traction energy is required. This parameter is determined for each individual train journey on the grounds of traction energy values – initially stored in the DatNet system – which depend on train series and train configurations (calculation will be made offline, e.g. by means of the Dynamis tool), and the current target timetable. In addition, the current daily train vehicle rotation schedules are evaluated including immobilisation times of single vehicle rotation processes.
Energy consumption of parked vehicles can then be determined on the grounds of immobilisation times, and this value will also be included in forecast calculations.
However, this process does not stop with energy purchase and with billing control. By means of the downstream driving assistance system (Fahrassistenzsystem – FAS) you will be able to exploit additional saving potentials by adequate driving recommendations issued for your train drivers.
The intelligent algorithm not only considers track topology and individual delay status but also crossing and preceding trains. dpr
III. Analysis of the national air transport market
“Air traffic sector is dominated by a strong worldwide competition. I believe that German aviation companies are well positioned in this sector. These companies are a synonym for high quality and competitive prices.”
(Peter Hintze (CDU) in an interview with Norbert Wahn – NWZ online)
By order of the German Airports Association (ADV Arbeitsverband Deutscher Verkehrsflughäfen), ETC has analysed passenger volume based data on 30 inner German flight connections between the ten most frequented and busiest airports.
Apart from the international hubs Munich and Frankfurt, the list of airports also comprises the airports of Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart, Hannover, Nürnberg and Dresden, all of which together represent the stable backbone of national air transport.
In the period comprised between 2004 and 2015, these top-10 airports handled more than 90% of the passenger volume inside Germany.
The main objective of this survey was to analyse and to evaluate the development in passenger volumes on existing flight routes and with regular flight offers in the period comprised between 2004 and 2015. The analysis was complemented by a detailed and real comparison of travelling time and travel expenses. This evaluation allowed to illustrate – on the grounds of standardised preferences of business and leisure customers – total travelling times from source to target destination, and overall travel expenses broken down by plane, train, car or long-distance bus.
To work with comparable distance data, and basing our calculations on a methodological approach established on the grounds of traffic geography, the town house was selected as source and target destination for each analysed relation. By selecting these source and target destinations, we were deliberately operating “to the detriment of the air transport system” since the train station is usually located closer to the town house than the airport of this specific city.
The results obtained showed: it is above all with travel distances of more than 400 km that national air transport can display its specific strengths. In 2015, for example, 91% of all passengers travelling on inner-German routes of more than 400 km opted for the airplane as transport means.
The comparison of travelling times has proven that for distances from 400 km and more (i.e. total travelling times of approximately 3 hours 15 minutes), air transport proves to be more beneficial for time-sensitive business travellers.
When having a closer look on all analyses and evaluated relations, we have found out that above all the very short distance routes have lost passengers compared to the reference year 2004. Core demands, however, have kept at a stable level in the last few years. Long and medium-distance routes, however, have recorded increasing rates.
These analyses have provided the basis for the “ADV Evidence-based paper on inner German air transport”, which is available to the public on the ADV website. sho
IV. Quality management system for regional passenger transport in Switzerland (QMS RPV CH)
The federal and cantonal governments in Switzerland spend an annual amount of approximately 1.8 billion CHF to merely finance the regional passenger transport. This amount corresponds to approximately 200 € per inhabitant, which results in a value twice as high as the comparable amount in Germany.
On the grounds of this initial situation, the Swiss Federal Council has decided – under Article 9 of the “Regulation on the financial compensation for regional public transportation” adopted in 2009, the establishment of a Swiss-wide quality assessment system for the regional passenger transport, including cantons and transportation companies.
The Federal Office of Transport that has been charged with the execution of this quality assessment system has prepared the ground since 2010 by carrying out different preliminary activities. In 2014, a worldwide public tendering procedure was carried out according to WTO regulations. The tendering procedure was meant to cover the field test and, depending on the results obtained, the regular operation as an option. ETC Transport Consultants GmbH has won this public tendering procedure and in 2015, the field test was successfully carried out in two pilot regions thus allowing to decide on the regular operation scheduled until December 31, 2024.
The QMS RPV CH has been developed in accordance with EN 13816 for the public transport and is based on the two following pillars:
- Punctuality measurement DPM
- Test client assessment MSS
The data that will be obtained by these measurements will be compiled in a data base. For this purpose, ETC Transport Consultants GmbH has developed the web-based data base Q.Daba, which will integrate all individual data and provide data access and evaluation tools to the different stakeholders (Federal Office of Transport, cantons, transportation companies) by means of specifically assigned access rights.
ETC Transport Consultants GmbH has implemented different interfaces to be able to import real time data. This allowed, for example, to implement connections to the data hubs CUS (SBB) and Bernmobil (canton Bern). Planning, organisation and execution of test client assessments with a legally valid sample size is also carried out by ETC.
In line with the regular operation, initiated in 2016, all Swiss companies that render any kind of services within the regional passenger transport sector will be gradually integrated into the system in the period comprised between April and July 2016. A qualified Stakeholder-Management is an important prerequisite for its implementation.
You will find more detailed information on this topic and on canton-specific solutions for the local traffic systems exclusively financed by these stakeholders in our next Newsletter. wbo
V. ETC supports the Strategy Commission “Local public transport/regional rail transport system in Saxony”
Thomas Baum, transport policy spokesman of the SPD-parliamentary group in the Federal Land parliament of Saxony:
“This expert opinion is a very sound foundation for the further work of the Strategy Commission. For the first time, we now have a complete inventory of the local public transport system in Saxony.”
Based on the presently valid coalition agreement, the Strategy Commission for local public transport and regional rail transport systems in Saxony was established in May 2015. This Commission is composed of 27 members all of them representing the main social groupings.
The main objective of the Commission’s work is to elaborate an overall strategy for an efficient and performant local public transport system.
In cooperation with KCW GmbH, ETC is rendering advisory services on a wide range of issues on behalf of the State Ministry of Economy, Labour and Transport (SMWA) of the Free State of Saxony and the pertinent government agency. As a first step, an expert opinion was established in April 2016, which will be the basic starting point for the Commission’s work.
At this point in time, strategic advisory services provided for the SMWA and professional assistance rendered to the five established task groups are the focus of our activities. These activities are complemented by the discussion of key topics, which have been selected by the members of the task groups.
- On behalf of the task group “Tariff and Sales”, ETC/KCW are executing a sales benchmarking, which analyses the future of sales channels.
- The task group “Financing” has requested a comparative financial analysis between the local public transport system in 4 Federal States (Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate) and the system in Saxony.
- The task force “Proposal Preparation” has requested the evaluation of different proposal scenarios.
- In addition, and in cooperation with the rural districts and independent cities, experts involved are presently establishing a data base for the public local rail transport system, which is a novelty on the nationwide scale.
The schedule has been tightly set so that conceptual proposals can be included in the double budget 2018/2019 and be considered in the next local public transport plan. To achieve this ambitious target, the results shall be compiled by the mid of 2017 already and summarised in a final report scheduled to be submitted by the end of 2017.
The work executed by the “Organisation” task group will certainly be looked at very attentively. This task group was constituted on August 25 and is intended to issue specific recommendations on the future structure of public transport authorities. 2018 will then be the year for the implementation of the measures.
Together with KCW, ETC is presently facing the interesting challenge to master a comprehensive package of tasks, which – in peak times – involves up to 12 experts. mhy
VI. Current and cost-efficient revenue sharing by use of operational data
Very often, revenue sharing among transport associations is a difficult topic to handle. The main parameter in revenue sharing, perceived as fair criterion to all parties involved, is the demand-based parameter, i.e. company shares depend on the relevant passenger demand within the associations’ tariffs. All data concerning the demand and structure of passenger demand are usually obtained on the grounds of transport surveys.
Having this specific goal of a fair revenue sharing in mind, high requirements are imposed on the quality of count and survey data. The implementation of these measures also includes an important budget, which either additionally burdens the transport associations and companies or makes them dependent on granted subsidies.
Changes in offers (tariffs, prices, schedules) and demand (choosing different options) as well as changes in the organisation (awarding of route networks to local train and bus transportation systems), very often require the updating of revenue sharing patterns. Due to these changes, revenue sharing patterns must be updated more frequently than usually provided by on the grounds of large-scale “traffic surveys”.
ETC has analysed, on behalf of the transport association Paderborn/Höxter, the integration of current and relation-based sales data into the revenue-sharing pattern. In a second step and in cooperation with all parties involved in this revenue sharing, ETC has elaborated a process, which operates on the grounds of sales data obtained during the previous year, and linked to the pertinent timetable data, this process allows to clearly assign specific demands to individual transport companies.
In a common effort, the parties involved have also identified relations for which the relation-based sales data did not provide sufficiently accurate information. This approach allowed to determine a proportional use. It was thus possible to achieve highly acceptable and reasonable compromises by simple assumptions and consideration of parallel systems.
As far as very important and specific relations are concerned, the quantitative demand with special reference to demand distribution is complemented by systematic surveys. Demand parameters are collected from the sales data.
If the data survey is limited to a strictly defined question, these data can be generated with only little effort. The degree of accuracy obtained, however, is considerable.
Hence transport associations and companies can rely on a cost-efficient process that can be used in those billing periods, which are characterised by major changes, whereas for the years in between a simple update may be sufficient.
Compared to general traffic surveys, the fact of “limiting” the process to sales data of the tariff to be shared has the advantage that information accuracy is not impaired by passengers with external tariffs. fne
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