COVID-19: The impact on Rail R&I
Carlo Borghini, Executive Director, Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking

The past months saw the global economy moving in just a few days to smart working arrangements as a result of the pandemic. Everything happened so fast that almost nobody had the time to prepare, but simply to react with the available instruments while mitigating the business and societal risks associated to such a sudden change.

Although it is not yet sure how the pandemic situation will evolve, it is clear that it has had an unprecedented negative impact on the overall global economy, and its consequences will be present for years. Throughout this difficult period, rail has demonstrated a unique resilience to ensure the connectivity of people – health workers in primis – at different levels; in terms of rail freight the opportunity to maintain the supply chain has been matched with a fast response and adaptation.

Optimisation as a driver of efficiency:
making the most of vehicles and staff

Planning vehicle workings and duties is a demanding task – deploying all resources properly and optimally poses a challenge. The potential to generate optimised results is therefore significant. A small increase of a few percent in the efficiency of vehicle workings or duty schedules can save railway companies a lot of money. The optimisation solutions of IVU Traffic Technologies make it possible to always maintain an overview of complex run schedules and duty schedules and to utilise existing resources in the most efficient manner.

Rail companies all around the world put their trust in IVU.rail to optimise the planning and dispatch of all their resources and to reduce operational disruptions. The integrated software solution features entirely digital workflows, meaning that all data is always available across all areas of work – from long-term timetable planning and personnel planning through to the daily deployment of vehicles and employees.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW
Mohamed Mezghani - UITP Secretary General

As the only worldwide network to bring together all public transport stakeholders and all sustainable transport modes, UITP and their global membership knows what direction the sector is going in.

INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION
Dealing with the unexpected

As public transport services become increasingly customer-focused (the name change from ‘passengers’ says it all), what helps an operator really stand out and strengthen or weaken their brand is how they respond to the unexpected. In such cases, an efficient incident and crisis management solution is a means of helping them maximise service continuity and deliver journey experiences that ensure customers come back for more – and tell others to do the same.