EUREKA PROJECT > 3161 E_RAILMAP
- SUMMARY
- OUTLINE
- PARTICIPANTS
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GERMANY
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AUSTRIA
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CZECH REPUBLIC
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ELECTRONIC RAILMAP OF EUROPE
CREATION OF AN ELECTRONIC MAP OF EUROPEAN RAILWAYS, THAT INCLUDES ALL ADVANTAGES OF AN E-MAP, TO IMPROVE RAILWAY FREIGHT TRANSPORT CONDITIONS.
Status > FINISHED - 18-Mar-2008 Technological Area Market Area Start Date > 01-Mar-2004 Duration > 40 Months Participating countries > GERMANY, CZECH REPUBLIC, AUSTRIA | Main contactJERID Dipl. Ing. PETR KROCA > Project Manager Organisation type > SME |
Project Description
Although railway transport provides better ecological parameters than road transport, rail freight is currently facing a sharp decline. One of the reasons is the relative difficulty in arranging one's own goods transport. In comparison with road transport, railway transport is possible only if certain conditions are met and all transport parameters are precisely defined, including the correct use of codes and terminology. In spite of the efforts of railway companies, it is not easy for the sender of the goods to obtain information on such parameters. One of the principal sources that clearly helps in determining transport parameters is a detailed railway map. Nowadays on the European market it is possible to obtain several types of wall rail maps. These maps are usually available on a scale of 1 : 3,000,000. Therefore, they do not provide a detailed display of the railway network in terms of the required transport parameters. Furthermore, wall map production technology is unable to update data on a regular basis; hence the information may not be a correct reflection of the actual status. This is the reason why these wall maps serve primarily for basic orientation on the European railway network, but they lack in the provision of sufficient information essential for the effective realization of railway freight transport. The principal objective of this project is to create an electronic map of the European railway network with all advantages normally associated with an e-map. It primarily focuses on the enlargement and the diminution of the map according to the immediate and on-the-spot need for depiction, as well as links between graphic symbols and information such that the data being scrutinized enables ready access, even to text information relevant to the subject. Last but not least, it can be regularly updated at intervals that reflect the intervals of real changes. Implementation of this project will contribute to the further improvement of railway transport conditions within the concerned branch and in terms of competition between railway and road transport. Electronic map may be distributed as a separate product, as with similar software products used in road transport, or in the tourist industry. It can also contribute towards specialized information systems and electronic railway data banks, which are currently the norm in railway freight transport. For existing databanks - such as the European Railway Freight Transport Information Data Bank or PEPA programme - this link would mean a completely new dimension, one that places information into the geographical space and the current text only format can then be visual. Keywords: transportation, railway, electronic map.
Technological Development Envisaged
The project aims to develop an electronic map of the European railway network (excluding states of the former CIS) involving various software products: - A separate programme with complete programmer and user documentation and with the possibility of user options on the depicted information. - Programme systems that can be incorporated into other researcher products. The programmer documentation of programme systems will be processed. - Data files with essential information on railway freight transport, usable in other specialized research and co-research products. The data files will contain data description and data format. - Data files with geographical coordinates for railway network points compatible with other specialized research and co-researched products. The data files will contain data description and data format.
Main contactPTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG Mr. David Luna > Organisation type > Large company |
Contribution to project
The company will contribute their own knowledge and experience in creating electronic maps. The company will arrange professional training of the researchers and will participate in the programme solution of the electronic map. The company will primarily provide their knowledge and experience on e-map creation and implementation on available operating systems. The next task in this project is to provide geographical data for the final e-map, namely the data pertaining to natural features, such as mountains and rivers, and geographical data, such as town locations and state borders. This data will be transferred to the electronic map in the form of libraries, resulting in their guaranteed protection.
Expertise
The Company develops map-based standard software for private users and companies. The company's portfolio of business products includes products for routing and travel planning, address display, address geo-coding, dealer search systems on the Internet, Application Service Providing (ASP), integration of map components into third party applications, as well as geographic information services for mobile users (PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), Smartphones, Auto PC). The company has over 60 employees and was founded in November 2000. It is a complete subsidiary of PTV AG (Karlsruhe). Some of MAP&GUIDE GMBH's strategic partners include the ADAC, AXEL SPRINGER VERLAG, DETEMEDIEN, FALK NEW MEDIA, MAIRS GEOGRAPHISCHER VERLAG, MOTOR-PRESSE STUTTGART and NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGIES. As a powerful tool for integrating digital maps into third party applications, MAP&GUIDE GMBH provides the software development kit MAP&GUIDE mapserver. With MAP&GUIDE mapserver, maps and route planning modules can be linked into systems for Transport Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Information Management. MAP&GUIDE GMBH customers in this area include DAIMLERCHRYSLER, SAP, FEDEX CUSTOM CRITICAL and the interior ministries of the German states Baden-Wuerttemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. MAP&GUIDE GMBH is striving to achieve market leadership in Europe with international versions of its successful products. MAP&GUIDE is available with the latest map material in Dutch, English, French, Italian and Spanish. The company developed TLN Planner based on MAP&GUIDE for transportation associations in the Benelux countries. Companies such as EUROMASTER (FRANCE) and DAIMLER CHRYSLER (NETHERLANDS) implement MAP&GUIDE iNETserver for their Internet applications and use the mapserver to integrate route-planning components. Developed and distributed under the label of Map & Travel, MAP&GUIDE GMBH sells comprehensive, country-specific solutions for travel, route and leisure activity planning on PC and PDA.
Main contactINFO TRANS LOGISTIK SYSTEMS GMBH MR. HELMUT WOLTRAN > MEMBER OF BOARD Organisation type > SME |
Contribution to project
Within the project, INFOTRANS will integrate the e-map into specialized forwarding software and will participate in creating the language mutation of final products. As a result, there will be a qualitative improvement in the current forwarding software, but moreover a general dividing line will be defined for the integration of the e-railmap into similar programmes. During the course of the project, INFOTRANS will also work on market studies to organise data gathering, and will participate in forming a sales strategy for the new product, focusing on German speaking markets.
Expertise
The Company deals primarily with activities, which are connected with electronic data processing. At the same time, the essential basis is the creation of software to support rail carriers. Considering the employees' experience in rail transport and logistic standing of many years, as well as their good education in the software-developing sphere, the company is in a good position to develop software solutions. Other company activities are: - Hardware and Software installation according to the client individual needs, - Individual software producing, - Project management, - Project analyses administration, - System specification, - Network planning, - Internet solutions, - Support (hotline service).
Main contactJERID Dipl. Ing. PETR KROCA > Project Manager Organisation type > SME |
Contribution to project
The project comprises three separate phases, enabling the creation of several types of final outlet. The primary task of the main researcher is not only to oversee the completion of all parts of the project, but also to undertake specific tasks in each phase. 1) RAILWAY NETWORK DATA GATHERING The task of the researcher in this part of the project is to establish a collection centre. It will be necessary to establish a new, separate work/ research place for finding and gathering the coordinates of railway stations in particular regions and European towns. We anticipate that the majority of employees at this workplace will have a subcontract. The collection of individual data will be coordinated according to market research results. Their goal will be to collect data on the complete European railway network. One part of this project phase is to acquire source regional maps, which will be accomplished by business trips. 2) CREATION OF THE UTILITY/SERVICE PROGRAMME FOR E-MAP DEPICTION In order to create an e-map utility programme, it will be necessary to arrange training for development workers, and to subsequently follow the standard researcher's approach concerning information system development. The phases are: - Analysis of the task to define all user product functions. - Creation of the data and function model. This results in the programmer documentation that forms a detailed task of the programming itself. - Programming of the system as a whole in a given programming language and adaptation of the product to the usual operating systems. - Testing of the final programme and its correction should difficulties arise. - Creation of the user and operator (administrator) programme documentation. This will result in a user and operator manual in text form. The text functions simultaneously as a help feature in the programme, which is one of the forms of the solution result. 3) LINK BETWEEN GRAPHIC FEATURES AND THE TECHNICAL DATABASE In this phase, the current researcher's knowledge will be used when the technical database and graphic form are linked. However, the objective is also to provide necessary data, especially from particular railway companies, and to establish the rules for their use. The solution itself lies in processing the acquired information into data form and transferring it into a format usable in the 'e-map' product.
Expertise
The Company is a private company, which was founded in 1993 under the initiative and collaboration of a number of skilled railway and computer experts. The company's main activity is to process and provide information on rail freight transport in electronic and computer form. The main spheres of activities are: - Up-to-date information for railway transporters, carriers and forwarders (European tariffs, distance tables, lists of goods, stations, printing of shipping documents, regulations and tariffs in its original form, etc. and their actualization). - Information systems to support business activities in the transport area (customized software for companies dealing with cargo transport). - Creation of regulations and publications in the field of transport. - Tariff consultations. Today the JERID Company has approximately 40 staff members, professionals with long-standing know-how in the field of information technology and railway freight transport. It is a stable company and a reliable partner. The JERID Company has 10 years of experience in providing quality services. It has established a stable market of more than 400 customers in the following countries: GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWEDEN, RUSSIA, POLAND, HUNGARY, ROMANIA, SLOVAKIA and CZECH REPUBLIC.