GUI-based Interactive Railway PlanningSystems

Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) operates 300 super bullet trains on the Shinkansen line as well as about 2,000 conventional passenger trains on conventional lines daily. In the past, train operation planning was only possible by using highly skilled professionals. In particular, developing train diagrams and simulations for scheduling of cars and crews was highly dependent on those professional skills and painstaking paper-and-pencil work Digital Japan, requested by JR Central, has laid a system foundation for JR Central's Computer Aided Railway Planning & Operation Systems Up to today, standard train running has been measured systematically for data input that is incorporated into the Computer Aided Train Diagram System This system, in turn, provides basic data for other systems, such as Timetabling, Car Management, and Crew Scheduling. Use of these systems is facilitated by an easy-to-use, interactive GUI that helps planning professionals simulate and produce optimized scheduling. This paper will introduce the basic concept for the total system, provide background information, and will particularly focus on the Crew Scheduling System which is equipped with Artificial Intelligence for checking Union rules and work regulations. The paper will finally look at further technological advancement for the future