Worldline joins forces with Alstom Transport UK Ltd and South Western Railway to compete in the RSSB’s Dynamic Train Planning Competition

The consortium of these leading organisations, all of which work across the rail industry, brings together in-depth knowledge of the UK’s rail service delivery, data and systems. The consortium will work collaboratively to bring together Passenger and Freight Operators with Network Rail to create a brand new end-to-end planning system, funded by a grant award from RSSB.

The Competition was initiated by RSSB and aims to develop data-driven ways of improving operational performance of the rail network, delivering benefit for passengers and freight customers through improved disruption management including faster recovery of services to their timetable.

With this clear and defined objective, the consortium will focus on creating an innovative, data-driven solution called PathFinder. PathFinder will deliver validation, automation and integration in a step-change to schedule and timetable planning for GB Rail.

PathFinder is an evolution and integration of market-leading technologies from both Worldline and Alstom UK. This scalable system will incorporate integrated workflow between Network Rail and Train Operator Company controllers, bringing rapid distribution of revised plans and machine learning to optimise train paths based on historical experience. It will integrate with industry systems using recognised data sources through the LINX integration layer. In partnership with the RSSB, the vision is to develop the data science to improve operational performance and ultimately the passenger experience.

Worldline and its consortium partners believe that PathFinder addresses the challenges of alleviating the restrictions of current system and processes that do not have the flexibility to effectively address short term changes. Through the introduction of automation and machine learning, PathFinder removes the current reliance on manual activities which are time-consuming and potentially prone to error while enabling greater collaboration between stakeholders and delivering benefits across the industry and most importantly to its customers - both passengers and freight.

James Bain, Chief Executive Officer at Worldline UK: "The consortium aims to lead the industry to become more efficient and adaptable with the latest digital solutions to tackle the delivery of the Time Promise of rail to improve customer’s experience. As one of Europe’s leading digital companies, our focus is always on providing solutions with the real customer being our focus.”

Will Roberts, Communications Director, at Alstom Transport UK Ltd: “PathFinder is an innovative solution bringing together the latest technologies to deliver benefits across the industry, through the automation of integrated TMS with an established Stock & Crew system, integrating processes between Train Running Controllers and the TOC/FOC resource planners, thus creating a system that provides all Stakeholders with a single source of truth.” 

Chris Prior, Head of Control Projects, at South Western Railway: “SWR generate a significant volume of VSTPs on the Wessex route which are administered and approved by Network Rail. We welcome the opportunity to be working with Worldline and Alstom on the PathFinder development and we believe that the outcome of this initiative will see an improvement in the quality of VSTPs, especially cross route, managing the volume of requests, speed of response, interface with industry systems and AI learning. This will reinforce SWR’s drive to put the passenger first by enabling the railway to be managed more responsively and efficiently, with more reliable data, leading to improved customer satisfaction.”

About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is the European leader in the payment and transactional services industry. With innovation at the core of its DNA, Worldline’s core offerings include pan-European and domestic Commercial Acquiring for physical or online businesses, secured payment transaction processing for banks and financial institutions, as well as transactional services in e-Ticketing and for local and central public agencies. Thanks to a presence in 30+ countries, Worldline is the payment partner of choice for merchants, banks, public transport operators, government agencies and industrial companies, delivering cutting-edge digital services. Worldline’s activities are organized around three axes: Merchant Services, Financial Services including equensWorldline and Mobility & e-Transactional Services. Worldline employs circa 12,000 people worldwide, with 2019 revenue of circa 2.4 billion euros. worldline.com

Press Contacts

Susanne Stöger
T +43 1 71701 6524
E susanne.stoeger@worldline.com