Automation in Railway Operations: Challenges, Perspectives and Experimented Effects on System Performance

The paper starts from definitions and concepts of “automation” and from an overview of present and future potential applications to railway operation field. The progressive migration process from “human managed” to “machine based” tasks fulfilment is analysed, as well as the present position along this process in various fields of railway traffic management. The historical basis of the migration are highlighted in the macro-sectors of infrastructures, vehicles and operation and services and, inside them, the specific fields are qualified with an assessment of the respective maturity levels. The analysis is particularly focused on the automation contributions into the following macro-sectors: i) safety management, ii) dispatching, iii) train operation. The safety management field is in-depth investigated: principles and objectives, links between safety and traffic density, man to machine transfers of safety critical functions and their full automation state-of-the-art and perspectives are covered. The dispatching field is a key sector for automation implementation and is analysed with a similar approach: objectives and standards, links between capacity and punctuality, man to machine migration of dispatchers’ actions and further challenges of automatic dispatching systems are managed. The automation of train operation is the premise to a full automated train control, which is today a consolidated framework for mass transit systems, with huge challenges in other fields of railway business (freight trains, marshalling terminals, etc.). Finally an overview of priorities in railway research identified at European level (EC Horizon 2020, ERRAC Roadmaps, etc.) are analysed: the standardisation and the large implementation of automatic operation in critical (for safety and quality of services) and massive functions are identified as the most fruitful investigation area towards the general increase of the performances of the railway system.