New information technology to serve train passengers in Finland

Algol Technics is helping to apply the latest technology to serve train
passengers in Finland. A new passenger information system is being introduced
in stations throughout the Finnish Railway system. The project will be
implemented by the Finnish Rail Administration (RHK) together with Vossloh
Information Technologies Karlsfeld GmbH and Algol Technics. The information
system will be installed by the end of the year 2008.

Product Manager Mikko Ahola from Algol Technics emphasizes that the system is
straightforward and easy to use. According to him, the solution is optimal in a
situation whereby the existing system, which has been built up step by step
over the years, no longer meets today´s requirements. "Together with the
customer we have demonstrated that the new system will improve the
competitiveness of rail transportation and service for passengers", he says.

The new computer-based automated system will serve nearly two hundred railway
stations in Finland by utilizing a single data network and user interface for
all information. The process will be fully interactive: traffic control centres
have a direct sonnection to the entire system, where input data is sent via the
central processing unit (CPU) to system interface units (SIU) in the railway
stations. The data is then transmitted to electronic monitors throughout the
stations either in text format or as an announcement in digital format or
utilizing live speech through a microphone.

Typical passenger information includes train types and numbers, arrival and
departure times, platform information, destinations, stopping locations for
carriages, and warnings about trains passing the platforms. The new system
allows fast and up-to-the-minute information also in emergency situations and
should individual details change. The system can also detect the exact location
of trains utilizing GPS or train sensors at the stations. In addition, the
entire system can be connected to security camera applications, for example.

The system is manufactured by German company Vossloh Information Technologies
Karlsfeld GmbH, whose references include the Munich and Hanover S-Bahn
networks, for example. In Finland pilot tests of the new system will begin next
year on a stretch of track between Tampere and Riihimäkki. The system´s central
processing unit will be located in the Linnunlaulu district of Helsinki. Algol
Technics will be responsible for the installation of the system, as well as
maintenance and technical support operated by the Process Centre of the
company.

« Back