The Digital Timetable
Article: Change in the driver’s cab: The Digital Timetable for train drivers
In a joint project, DB Fernverkehr, DB Regio and DB Systel have created a new overview and simpler processes for thousands of train drivers across the Group. The “Digital Timetable” shows all up-to-date timetable information before and during the journey in a clear display. It bundles all driving-relevant information on a single screen and reduces media breaks.
More clarity in rail operations
Train drivers (short: “Tf”) move trains weighing hundreds of tons safely to their destination and must pay attention to many details. They are part of the complex interplay of railway operations and are embedded in numerous processes: Each individual journey first requires extensive preparations and checks. Afterwards, train drivers ensure that their train reaches its destination smoothly along all signals and instructions. Only with the sum of all information and documents can the Tf drive a route confidently and optimally. Every journey is accompanied by numerous notes and, in some cases, day-to-day changes-such as construction sites along the route. The heart of this is the timetable, which contains a large portion of important route information and driving instructions.
Although the new “Digital Timetable” is a digitization project in implementation, it was created above all to improve the working environment in the driver’s cab of vehicles at DB Fernverkehr and DB Regio: far more clarity, automatically compiled information and fewer media breaks. “It was our wish to provide relief here and truly create added value with digitization,” says Kay Scharmer, who is responsible for driving personnel at DB Regio.
With the Digital Timetable, all information for the train journey is now found on the Tf’s personal tablet. In one place, at a glance. Employees simply enter their train number and immediately receive all information for the journey. “That is the reason for the success of the whole product,” says Kay Scharmer from DB Regio: “that it is so closely oriented toward the employees’ needs and how they would like to use the product.”
From paper to tablet: The evolution in the driver’s cab
In the distant past, operational requirements were the sole focus; usability or portability were hardly in view: train drivers carried many printed documents with details about the journey. Every year, Deutsche Bahn printed many tons of paper to distribute all this information. With the electronic timetable “EBuLa,” a new screen found its way into the driver’s cabs of trains in the 1990s and displayed the timetable electronically. Many additional items of information, however, continued to be available on paper - for example, the so-called brake sheets or multiple-unit instructions. “There was still a lot of paper in the driver’s cabs,” recalls Jürgen Hohl, head of train drivers at DB Fernverkehr.
As a second step in digitization, from 2015 onward a large part of this additional information gradually moved electronically onto a tablet: “We changed the medium-from paper to a PDF,” recalls Kay Scharmer from DB Regio. Long-distance train drivers also received tablets at that time as a replacement for many printed documents. Good for the forests and, at the same time, a literal relief for the train drivers’ backpacks-yet in terms of usability, initially only a small improvement compared to booklets and books. It was still documents from which employees had to extract the relevant information: “We realized that although we had digitized, work simplification was not yet at the forefront - for example, when you wanted to turn a page or mark something,” recalls Kay Scharmer.
With solutions such as FASSI-MOVE and RiM, information from documents could increasingly be processed outside PDFs in subsequent years, but only now, with the Digital Timetable, do the previous applications merge into a single view. Today, the Tf see a context-based travel mode on their tablet-with all currently important information for the journey: for example, the system offers the “Binoculars/Rearview Mirror” function, which shows trains ahead of and behind their own vehicle. The new “La-Select” module displays all current temporary speed restrictions (Langsamfahrstellen) for the current route, filtered appropriately along the entire course of the trip. This display also reacts to timetable changes. To achieve this relief, numerous pieces of information from different sources had to be brought together in the background. “The introduction of the Digital Timetable is an important step for DB Fernverkehr to make the work processes of our train drivers more efficient and modern. The digital solution helps us minimize sources of error and further increase operational quality,” says Jürgen Hohl.
Together towards a unified new solution
The Digital Timetable is a cooperation between DB Fernverkehr, DB Regio and DB Systel. The foundation was laid at the end of 2019, when DB Fernverkehr, DB Regio and DB Systel all sought further improvements to the working environment of train drivers. “We knew we must not, for example, allow outages, because disruptions would be passed on to passengers as delays or cancellations,” Kay Scharmer recalls. “That’s why it was important to set up the project well and safely, with stable foundations.” With FASSI-MOVE, DB Systel already operates an application that was in use at several railway undertakings, including DB Regio, and is specialized in digitizing the workplaces of driving personnel. On this basis, it was particularly efficient to create a joint solution for passenger services.
“The highlights of the project were, on the one hand, the cooperation-how we set it up-and above all: how we actively involved the future users from the very first development step. Even before the first line of code was written, the employees who would later use the products as users were involved.”
“The entire project was repeatedly interspersed with workshops-with freely accessible on-site appointments-so that you could simply come by without registration and take a look,” says Kay Scharmer. “All Tf were able to give their feedback there, and this fed into the development.” This practice-oriented accompaniment ensured that every step went in the right direction: “The developers always had the explanation for why they were developing some things in a certain way, instead of just receiving a requirement and implementing it,” recalls [redacted], who at DB Systel is the product owner for the Digital Timetable: “And I believe many of the developers learned an incredible amount about how the railway works.”
Finding a common path
Throughout the project, the Tf’s requirements were at the very center. Numerous train drivers gave their concrete feedback as “lead users” during the development of the solution: “They accompanied the project from the outset,” recalls Henning Lerz, who at DB Fernverkehr is the product manager for the Digital Timetable. In addition, the project staff from DB Fernverkehr and DB Regio who take care of requirements also bring operational expertise from practice: “First, with the help of colleagues from Systel, they learned what it means to be a ‘business analyst,’ and then wrote down the requirements.” DB Fernverkehr and DB Regio thus contribute their operational expertise and derive the respective requirements from their day-to-day work. DB Systel handles the development and operation of the solution. The ideal implementation for specific functions is discussed jointly by the three parties in each case, in order to find approaches that fit both business units’ operations equally well and can also be implemented efficiently in development. “We attach great importance to ensuring that the application not only convinces technically, but also puts the needs of long-distance train drivers at the center. Continuous further development and the integration of new functions are crucial to ensure our employees are supported in the best possible way,” explains Jürgen Hohl.
“I don’t perceive that we are in a ‘client–contractor’ relationship; rather, we work together as partners. Initially, for example, we still had separate project documentation, and we quickly switched to joint documentation.”
One of the challenges in the project was making different data usable from their respective sources. Data providers around each journey include not only the railway undertakings, but also, for example, DB InfraGO. The raw data are in some cases pure infrastructure data without dedicated interfaces, for example from PDF documents. Therefore, this information must first be supplemented and, above all, brought into the right context both functionally and technically: “The data were there,” recalls Fabian Meier. “Linking this data and, at the same time-also technically-presenting it so that the various areas interact, it feels like it’s all of a piece, and you only need to enter the train number-that was the challenge.”
Soon, 20,000 train drivers will use the Digital Timetable
Operational trials of the Digital Timetable began in August 2024 at DB Fernverkehr and DB Regio. In the meantime, the roughly 5,000 train drivers at DB Fernverkehr are already using the Digital Timetable across the board, and their approximately 15,000 colleagues at DB Regio will also gain access to the application step by step as new tablets are rolled out. The solution has since moved beyond “project” status. The Digital Timetable itself will continue to evolve: “We are not yet at the end of the road,” says Fabian Meier. “We have already linked a lot of data with each other, but not yet everything.” Even today, there are still weekly meetings to discuss new functions and clarify functional requirements. “We define the functional requirements extremely precisely. We always think through the risks that might arise,” says Henning Lerz.
“We want to further reduce the necessary work steps and effort for the Tf, so that they can access information as effectively as possible when they need it,” says Jürgen Hohl. In the near future, for example, data from shift plans will automatically supply train numbers. Another concrete additional function for the future is the most energy-efficient driving possible. Here, the Tf will receive recommendations-so that, for example, they do not accelerate more than necessary to reach the next stop on time: “We are providing the Tf with a tool with direct feedback to drive significantly more energy-efficiently,” says Fabian Meier.
The Digital Timetable has brought the greatest change in recent years for train drivers in journey preparation and the information environment during the journey. It’s well received: in their feedback, the Tf speak of the largest digitization measure in decades. This can also be measured: In the annual user surveys at DB Fernverkehr, the new tool achieves around eight out of ten points in satisfaction. “The acceptance and feedback from train drivers show that with the Digital Timetable we are on the right track-for long-distance and regional services alike,” says Jürgen Hohl.
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