NSL – Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft ETH Zürich
  • Projects
      • Projects of the Chairs
        • Prof. Dr. Bryan T. Adey | Infrastructure Management
        • Prof. Dr. Tom Avermaete | History and Theory of Urban Design
        • Prof. Dr. Kay W. Axhausen | Traffic and Transport Planning
        • Prof. Dr. Francesco Corman | Transport Systems
        • Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey | Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems (PLUS)
        • Prof. Dr. David Kaufmann | Spatial Development and Urban Policy
        • Prof. Hubert Klumpner | Architecture and Urban Design
        • Dr. Anastasios Kouvelas | Traffic Engineering and Control
        • Prof. Dr. Christian Schmid | Sociology
        • Prof. Milica Topalovic | Architecture and Territorial Planning
        • EiR PD Dr. Joris Van Wezemael | Spatial Transformation Laboratories (STL)
        • Prof. em Dr. h. c. Günther Vogt | Landscape Architecture
        • ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE
        • NSL Archive
      • NSL Colloquia – The NSL Colloquia are a bi-annual presentation of exceptional work under a rotating theme determined by the inviting professor.
      • NSL Projects
        • Future Cities Lab Global
        • Urban Potential and Strategies in Metropolitan Territories
 – The Zurich Metropolitan Region as an Example (NFP65)
        • Landscape Visualization and Modeling Lab (LVML)
      • NSL Forum: Pandemie? Mitten im Klimawandel. Was bedeutet das für die räumliche Entwicklung der Schweiz? Ein Dialog.
      • Former Chairs
    Close
  • Teaching
    • Teaching
      • Bachelor and Master Degree Programmes, Department ARCH
      • Bachelor and Master Degree Programmes, Department BAUG
      • MSc in Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems
      • MAS/CAS Spatial Development
      • MAS Urban and Territorial Design
      • MAS in Housing
      • Doctoral Programme in Landscape and Urban Studies
      • The teaching component of the NSL seeks to impart the knowledge and skills needed to develop the standard strengths of spatial planning and their interaction as well as the ability to develop strategies for the solution of spatial problems. These are central prerequisites for a responsible and successful exercise of planning functions in the service of the public commonwealth and of private companies. Especially important in fufilling these prerequisites is the quality of university-level education: graduate and post-graduate work as well as professional development in spatial, urban and landscape planning. The ETH Zurich has offered programmes such as continuing education courses and post-graduate programmes (NDS, now MAS) since 1965. The NSL (Network City and Landscape) is responsible for these courses and programmes.
    Close
  • Publications
    • NSL Newsletter – The NSL brings the experts at ETH Zurich together and also maintains a dialogue with other groups that deal with or are interested in issues relating to cities and landscapes.
    • Cover der Publikation: Erkenntnisse zum aktuellen WohnungsnotstandPublications of NSL Chairs – A complete list of publications can be reached via the following link, which also includes advanced search capabilities:
      • ETH Zürich Research Collection
    • DISP_58/3_CoverdisP – The Planning Review – The interdisciplinary scientific journal covers the topics of spatial development, urban planning, landscape and environmental planning, landscape architecture, traffic planning, and regional and environmental economics, as well as special issues on specific themes.
      • Publishing in disP – The Planning Review
      • Publisher
      • Book Review Guidelines
      • Editorial Staff
      • Latest Issue
      • facebook
    Close
  • Current
  • Contact
      • en
        • de
        • fr
        • it
      • Search

    • Close

Big Data in Railway Operation: an Opportunity for Enhancing Energy Efficiency

The increasing competitiveness amongst transport modes has recently lead rail operators to start collecting microscopic data on energy consumptions. Main aim is to analyze and optimize energy efficiency during operation. It is an incredible opportunity for researchers to access to a huge amount of data for the development of new strategies and solutions, which were unexplored until now. 

In the next future, transport systems will be completely reinvented, due to the impacts of technological innovations, such as autonomous driving and hybrid or fully electric vehicles, which are now the reality and not anymore a possibility. To face this revolution, railway systems need to considerably improve their operation side and to consider energy efficiency as a key element, so to keep being considered as an alternative in the transport system market.

Therefore, rail operators started collecting huge amount of data from onboard monitoring systems. Researchers at IVT are currently working with rail operators for the analysis and possible improvements of system performance, based on those big sets of data. This includes the development of suitable tools for generation of energy efficient train trajectories.

Researchers at IVT use a microsimulation-based optimization framework, which generates and evaluates optimal solutions, both at traffic management level (i.e. rail traffic schedules, reducing delays) and at single train operation level (i.e. speed profiles, increased energy savings).

The current research includes also freight trains operation, which combine a high heterogeneity in operation and train characteristics (in the figure, colored points are speed data collected on 4 different trains), with the need to reduce operative costs, e.g. energy consumption. First results on selected national routes showed potential energy savings between 17% and 11%, depending on rail traffic conditions, weather, rolling stock and infrastructure characteristics. Moreover, these results highlight the need of introducing automation in traffic management processes and technologies, for advanced train control. Within SCCER Mobilityprogram, IVT is now working on this topic following three main research streams:

  • Multilevel database: Data acquisition and data analysis on energy consumptions at different levels of detail (e.g. single vehicle, station areas, national networks, etc.) and time scales.
  • Models enhancement. Calibration and validation of rail simulation models. Uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis for optimization procedures. Development of systems supporting Automatic train operation (ATO) and /or Driving Assistance System (DAS).
  • Generation of optimal strategies and solutions. Generation of energy efficient solutions under specific constraints and for different services (offline and online, freight trains, passenger trains).

Valerio De Martinis is postdoctoral researcher at IVT since 2014. His research activities focus on simulation and optimization techniques for improving energy efficiency in rail operation. He is involved in the SCCER Mobility program with a specific project on energy optimal operation of freight trains. Latest publication on this theme.

Francesco Corman is professor of Transport system at IVT. Previously professor at TU Delft and KU Leuven, he joined ETH in 2017. His main fields of research include operation and control of public transport systems, rail traffic management, logistics and maintenance. 

Share this...
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Email
This article has been published in the following newsletter edition:

35 | September 2017: Ressourcen

  • Resource Territories
  • «Switzerland is like a paradise for a transport enthusiast.»
  • Siedlungsmuster als Schlüssel zum Schutz fruchtbarer Böden
  • Big Data in Railway Operation: an Opportunity for Enhancing Energy Efficiency
  • Die Alpen als «Common Ground»
  • Building Capacity. Towards a resource-oriented framework for sustainable urban development and design
Kurzmeldungen
  • Benefit of Trees in Tropical Cities
  • Joint Effort to Mitigate Urban Heat Island Effect
  • Das unvollständige Haus: Mies van der Rohe und die Landschaft der Moderne
  • Future of Swiss Outdoor Recreation Under Global Change
  • Development Visions for two Mountain Regions
  • NSL Kolloquium: Common Water – The Future of an Alpine Resource
Publikationen
  • Analysis of one-way and two-way street configurations on urban grid networks
  • Fleet control algorithms for automated mobility: A simulation assessment for Zurich
  • Future Cities Laboratory Indicia 01
  • Backflip – New Oerlikon Zurich
Aktuell
  • Stadtentwicklung Offenbach: Vom Industriehafen zum urbanen Stadtquartier
  • Architecture and Light
  • Davos erfindet sich neu. Vom Lungenkurort zum Kongressstandort
  • 5th International Conference on Technologies for Development (Tech4Dev 2018): Voices of the Global South
  • «Das Cern der Stadtplanung werden»
  • 75 Jahre Raumplanung an der ETH Zürich

Chairs

Prof. Dr. Bryan T. Adey
Prof. Dr. Kay W. Axhausen
Prof. Dr. Tom Avermaete
Prof. Maria Conen
Prof. Dr. Francesco Corman
Dr. Jennifer Duyne Barenstein
Prof. Teresa Galí-Izard
Prof. Dr. Adrienne Grêt-Regamey
Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert
Prof. Dr. David Kaufmann
Prof. Hubert Klumpner
Dr. Anastasios Kouvelas
Prof. Freek Persyn
Prof. Dr. Christian Schmid
Prof. Milica Topalovic
EiR PD Dr. Joris Van Wezemael
Prof. em Dr. h. c. Günther Vogt
ETH Wohnforum – ETH CASE

Contact

Address
ETH Zürich
NSL – Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft
Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5
HIL H 44.2
8093 Zürich

NSL Director
Director: Prof. Hubert Klumpner
Deputy Director: Prof. Dr. David Kaufmann

NSL Coordination
Claudia Gebert
Telephone: +41 (0)44 633 36 33

Register for the NSL Newsletter

disP Publication Office

Editor-in-Chief
Dr. sc. techn. Martina Koll-Schretzenmayr, Spatial planner ETH/NDS,
Telephone +41 (0)44 633 29 47

Editorial Assistant
Telephone +41 (0)44 633 29 69

Mailing address
ETH Zürich
Redaktion disP
NSL – Netzwerk Stadt und Landschaft
Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5
HIL H 33.2
8093 Zürich
Fax +41 (0)44 633 12 15
E-Mail

 

NSL Archive (gta)

Research and Bequest Archive for
Swiss Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning

Consultation Requests

Mailing address
ETH Zürich
NSL Archive (gta)
Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5
HIL C 65.2
CH-8093 Zurich