MULTIRAIL PAX INTEGRATED SOFTWARE FOR PASSENGER RAIL PLANNING

With globally increasing fuel prices and highway congestion, passenger railroads are experiencing record ridership in intercity, commuter and urban rail systems. Furthermore, passenger railroad operations planners are faced with the additional challenges of all day coverage, more express services, “single seat” rides to key locations and more inter-city services. In order to help planners with these challenges, Oliver Wyman is introducing MultiRail PAX – Oliver Wyman’s ultimate passenger train scheduling and asset optimization system that provides railroads with a powerful set of integrated tools designed to streamline operations planning and reduce operational costs.

Surface Transportation

MultiRail PAX provides integrated planning capabilities to railways

of all sizes, including intra-city transit, commuter lines and inter-city

operations. Providing strategic, proactive analysis of passenger rail

network and service changes, MultiRail PAX is the optimal solution

for day-to-day management decisions and periodic operating plan

changes, as well as for the development of large scale structural

redesigns and service offerings.

Since 1992, MultiRail has been a leading global platform for planning

passenger rail networks, schedules, platforms, crews, and consists.

Over time, the MultiRail tools have been renewed and expanded to

accommodate new interfaces and architecture, and to increase the

system’s scope to cover a wider range of rail planning activities. Based

on state of the art technologies, the latest release of MultiRail PAX

offers enhanced tools for the management of the more complex issues

and specialized needs for passenger rail service design, a redesigned

platform that encompasses true enterprise planning integration, and

new optimization tools for crew schedules and rolling stock cycling.

THE INTEGRATED COMPONENTS OF MULTIRAIL PAX

MultiRail PAX provides a fully integrated system for all aspects of

passenger rail operations management, from maintaining network and

track data to train equipment, train timetable and crew job planning.

As planners modify and develop train schedules and crew jobs,

MultiRail sends immediate feedback based on the simulated impact

the changes will have on day-to-day operations.

Value-added equipment and crew optimization tools present

alternative plans for reducing operational costs.

Additionally, MultiRail’s variety of result-analysis tools, with

optional exports to external systems, allow all levels of railroad

management to efficiently model, measure, and analyze the

impact of an operating plan design.

MultiRail PAX provides strategic, proactive analysis of passenger rail network and service changes

MultiRail PAX

INTEGRATED COLLABORATIVE RAIL DATABASE

MultiRail’s data repository provides transparency to all

aspects of MultiRail planning and offers a direct path for the

movement of data from and to external systems, including

the railway’s mainframe operating and planning systems.

Project Plans and Optimized Plans hold provisional sets

of changes to train and crew job operating plans. After

the impacts of a plan have been studied in MultiRail and

approved, the changes can be incorporated into the

production environment at any time.

NETWORK AND TRACK DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS

The MultiRail PAX Network Manager Module provides

map-based tools for graphical entry and manipulation of a

railroad network, including yards, stations and lines, along

with geographical and performance attributes. All aspects

of network data, in data grid format, are displayed with

the graphical map to simultaneously analyze and visualize

all network aspects of train routes, including line density

graphics. In addition, advanced tools provide bulk editing,

train route analysis, and custom features for map displays.

The MultiRail PAX Track Manager Module provides a

variety of graphics-based tools for the design of track and

switch layouts along with geographical and performance

attributes such as lengths, speed limits, switch types,

headway requirements, gradients and curvatures. Track

layouts are used to show train track paths and provide the

basis for conflict identification simulation.

Network and track data in MultiRail can be built from

scratch or imported from another system.

MultiRail PAX 3

THE INTEGRATED COMPONENTS OF MULTIRAIL PAX

INTEGRATED COLLABORATIVERAIL DATABASE

NETWORK AND TRACKDATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS

OPERATIONAL PLANNING AND ANALYSIS

OPTIMIZATION TOOLS

OUTPUT MANAGEMENT ANDEXPORT TO EXTERNAL SYSTEMS

Network Track Resources

Crew jobsTrain-equipment

assigmentsTrains

Project plans Optimized plans

MultiRail Trains Modulewith Equipment Manager

MultiRail Crew Job Modulewith Job Rostering

MultiRailNetwork Manager

MultirailTrack Manager

MultiRail Job Optimizer MultiRail Roster Optimizer

MultiRail Equipment Planner and Optimizer

MultiRail XLS ReportsMultiRail

Timetable Manger

MultiRail Data ExchangeMultiRail Diagnostic

Report Windows

MULTIRAIL PAX PLANNER PACKAGE AND DESIGNER PACKAGE

MultiRail PAX can be used in two different configurations:

Rail Planner Package only – this configuration is targeted at tasks

concerned with the regular plan maintenance and analysis of a

passenger railroad’s existing operations.

• Manage tasks related to regular plan maintenance and analysis of

existing railroad operations

• Build basic service plans with crew and equipment cycles

• Make new services and schedule changes with ease

• Quickly and accurately model service plan changes for analysis

• Maintain audit trails of all changes made to the operating plan

database

• Share data, either partially or entirely, among the planning team

and management

• Allow multiple users to simultaneously work on various provisional

projects that are based on the current production data

Designer Package – This configuration uses the base Planner

Module for network, train schedules and database management,

but adds tools developed for rail companies that are considering

structural redesign of their network and service offerings, and are

undertaking strategic analysis of large expansions of network and

service changes. These tools include the crew schedule, roster and

equipment cycling optimizers, and the validations and reports that

support these functions.

Additionally, the Designer Package allows railways to develop

Interfaces with external systems and processes such as platform

signage, train control systems, payroll systems and internet-based

rider information programs, such as Google Transit.

Overall, the Designer Platform provides an environment whereby train

plans can be developed in an unconstrained process and then tested

with optimized asset plans, to determine feasibility of the total plan.

The Designer Package was developed for railways that are considering structural redesign of their network and service offerings

4 MultiRail PAX

THE MULTIRAIL PAX RAIL PLANNER PACKAGE

OPERATIONAL PLANNING ANALYSIS

The MultiRail PAX Trains Module offers a wide range of tools to

manage trains, routes, schedules, and special instructions for

equipment and crew assignments.

When creating or editing service plans, MultiRail performs automated

train route and track path generation based on minimal user entry.

In addition to train stops, detailed routes can include “by points,”

checkpoints, and other custom network points. MultiRail automatically

calculates run times, with options to consider start/stop and

acceleration/deceleration delays, and fills in arrival and departure

times along train routes.

Day-to-day equipment assignments and crew jobs are shown on each

train, along with equipment cycles.

Interactive Terminal Clock Tools show station clocks with

equipment connections and equipment in inventory.

The MultiRail PAX Crew Module provides a set of tools to manage

crew plans that are consistent with the service design plan.

When creating or editing crew plans, MultiRail offers an automated

selection of “next” train duties and automatically calculates job

statistics, such as work time, overtime, suburb time and other statistics

for job analysis.

In both the Trains Module and the Crew Module, a Validation Tool

provides instant feedback on the overall train service and crew job plans,

such as trains that aren’t crewed, trains and jobs that do not meet current

business rules and regulations, and equipment and crew utilization.

In the Crew Module, a Rostering Tool is used to manage weekly job

groupings. As jobs are regrouped, MultiRail updates roster statistics

and validation messages show where rosters don’t meet roster

business rules.

MULTIRAIL INTEGRATED TERMINAL CLOCK REPORT

GRAPHICAL CREW MANAGMENT MODULE

MULTIRAIL CREW VALIDATION REPORT

MultiRail PAX 5

MULTIRAIL EQUIPMENT AND CREW OPTIMIZER RULES

MULTIRAIL PAX DESIGNER PACKAGE

OPTIMIZATION TOOLS

The MultiRail PAX Equipment Optimizer Module automatically

generates an equipment cycle plan that matches car capacity to

passenger demand, reduces deadheads and limits consist handlings.

The optimized plans adhere to all equipment business rules, user-

defined rules and parameters such as required passenger capacity,

and user-locked equipment assignments. Optimized equipment

plans are analyzed in the Trains Module. Multiple optimized

equipment plans can be compared using optimization reports.

The optimizer will efficiently manage car and locomotive capacities

at stations and yards, eliminating car/loco imbalances and reducing

handling of the rolling stock. MultiRail will also identify opportunities

to add train service without the acquisition of additional rolling stock.

The MultiRail PAX Crew Job Optimizer Module automatically

generates an alternate set of crew jobs designed to crew all trains at

the least cost, while meeting all business and regulatory rules. The

Optimizer can create a crew plan from scratch or planners can lock-in

already established jobs. An optimized set of jobs is imported into

the Crew Module for analysis, and further editing can be performed

if necessary. Using reports, the optimized plan can be compared with

other project plans.

The optimization engine’s purpose is to produce fewer jobs than those

produced manually, while respecting all rules. Additionally, using

the fully allocated costs, railways can balance savings based on crew

schedule reductions with the requirements for managing overtime.

The MultiRail PAX’s Roster Optimizer Module automatically

“bundles” jobs into rosters to achieve the least cost roster set solution

based on railroad rostering rules and regulations. Before running the

optimizer, planners specify roster requirements they want returned

by the optimizer (for example, 40% 5-day and 60% 6-day rosters). An

optimized set of rosters is imported into the Rostering Tool for analysis,

and further editing can be performed if necessary.

MULTIRAIL ROSTER OPTIMIZER

6 MultiRail PAX

OUTPUT MANAGEMENT AND EXPORT TO EXTERNAL SYSTEMS

The MultiRail PAX Timetable Manager Module generates timetables

for any line segment or corridor for any period of time, and even

for multiple segments or corridors at the same time. In addition to

the Trains Module, Timetable Manager can be used to develop train

schedules. Timetables can be custom formatted, printed and published

for a train across a set of corridors.

A Conflict Identifier Tool simulates operations to identify potential

train conflicts.

A Stringline Tool generates time-distance diagrams for all trains

shown in a particular timetable. As with the timetable module, train

schedules can be edited and stringlines can be custom formatted

to display an array of integrated train, equipment, and crew data for

each train run.

Diagnostic Report Windows provide immediate analysis tools from

various MultiRail components. For example: Timetables and Stringline

Diagrams, Train Maps, Line density Maps, Terminal Clock Graphics with

equipment connections and inventories, and Crew Graphics.

Customized Excel Reports provide feedback and analysis for all levels

of railroad management. Excel features can be used for further analysis

and reports can be customized and enhanced for presentations. All

windows and data grids can be printed or exported to Excel. Examples

of custom Excel reports include Train Statistics and Validations; Station

Train Reports and Platform Occupancies; FTA Random; Passenger

Flow; Equipment Assignments, Cycles, and Utilization; Job Details; Job

Assignments by Train; Job Payroll and Job Road Run.

The MultiRail PAX Optional Data Exchange Module component

allows MultiRail to be integrated with other client systems, such as real

time execution systems; linkages to various planning processes and

systems for resources, such as locomotive and crew/drivers, payroll

systems, and track authorities; and TPC and capacity planning systems.

Contact Oliver Wyman today to see how MultiRail PAX

can work for you.

MULTIRAIL TIMETABLE AND STRINGLINE MANAGERS

MULTIRAIL NETWORK MANAGER AND REPORTS

MultiRail PAX 7

With offices in 50+ cities across 25 countries, Oliver Wyman is a leading global management consulting firm that combines deep industry knowledge with specialised expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The firm’s 3,000 professionals help clients optimize their businesses, improve their operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is part of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC]. For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com.

Oliver Wyman regularly customizes and enhances our software to meet specific client requirements and finds this to be an effective way of growing the product and ensuring that it meets all of our clients’ needs. Our staff has extensive knowledge in relational database design and implementation as applied to transportation problems. Oliver Wyman combines custom development with commercial software components to provide powerful transportation software in minimal time and with maximum flexibility to adapt to the latest customer requirements.

For more information, please contact our practice heads directly:

Rod Case, Torontorod.case@oliverwyman.com

Joris D’Incà, Zurichjoris.dinca@oliverwyman.com

Gilles Roucolle, Parisgilles.roucolle@oliverwyman.com

http://blog.railplanning.com

Copyright © 2012 Oliver Wyman. All rights reserved. This report may not be reproduced or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the written permission of Oliver Wyman and Oliver Wyman accepts no liability whatsoever for the actions of third parties in this respect.

The information and opinions in this report were prepared by Oliver Wyman. This report may not be sold without the written consent of Oliver Wyman.