Railways@Crossover Helping European Railways Transition to the Digital Future through Cooperation 6 December 2011 European Parliament, Brussels Prepared

Railways@CrossoverHelping European Railways Transition to the

Digital Future through Cooperation

6 December 2011

European Parliament, Brussels

Prepared by Antonio E. Lópezand Mick Haynes

December 2011

Agenda

1. History

2. Strategy Study

3. New Business Strategy

4. Web Services Platform

5. Unique Value Proposition

Brussels, 6 December 2011 Railways@crossover 2

Who are Hit Rail? (1)

Is a small well funded, non-profit making and neutral company with a strong management team and a vast knowledge of railway environment.

has always been at the heart of a very active Community of Railway companies which constitutes a solid base.

has developed an international prestige in building and coordinating complex pan European projects (e.g. Hermes X.25, Hermes IP Migration, HER, HOSA, IP/MPLS, etc.).

has been in the vanguard of international data communications (Hermes network) technologies for the past 21 years.

Brussels, 6 December 2011 3Railways@crossover

Who are Hit Rail? (2)

Hermes X.25 network took shape in 1978. In 1990 Hit Rail BV was created. In 1995 Hit Rail founded Hermes Europe Railtel (HER). In 1999 Hit Rail developed the Hermes Open Systems

Architecture (HOSA). In 2002 a new Hermes IP VPN network was implemented

requiring a synchronised migration to the HOSA architecture. In 2006 a second generation Hermes IP VPN based on MPLS

infrastructure was implemented.


Hermes Open System Architecture (HOSA)

Hermes Open System Architecture: The common way of working at

the moment. Implemented by all RUs and IMs to

interchange messages and files. Simple but efficient. Works over Hermes VPN but also

over Internet. Secure

Security based on IP/MPLS (Hermes VPN) or IPSec (Internet).

Based on open standards and Internet protocols.

Railways@crossover 5Brussels, 6 December 2011

Hit Rail Today: Shareholders


Hit Rail Today: Customers


ATOC, CFL, DB, Eurostar, ICF, NS International, ProRail, Raildata/ISR, Railion NL, Renfe, RMF, RZD, UIC, VR, RNE, Thalys, OSE, PKP, CFR, TCDD, ZS, UZ.Small Freight operators: Lokomotion (Rail Traction Company), Nordcargo, Captrain, Crossrail and Express-RailSmall Passenger Operators: Rhatische Bahn

Hermes Network Today: Some Figures

Connects 42 sites in 21 countries.

Involves 12 shareholders and 24+ customers.

Interconnects 23 IMs, 26 Freight RUs, 27 Passenger RUs and 3 International Organisations: UIC, RNE and Raildata.

Exchanges half Terabyte of business data per month.

Monitors the network 24/7. Has a very high level of

security.


Agenda

1. History

2. Strategy Study





Targeting the Future of Railways

ICT Opportunity Internet as the core technology platform Technology convergence Commoditisation of communication networks Web services to enhance business value

Efficiency

Modernity

Better services

Greater value for economy & society

Character of the Railway Business Structural change

separation between RUs & IMs new companies

Efficiency drive relentless downward pressure on cost global economic climate

Culture incumbents: reluctance to embrace change new comers: favour simpler & new solutions

10Railways@crossoverBrussels, 6 December 2011

Policy Push Interoperability Inter-modality Competitive markets Sustainable transport

Forces Shaping the Railway Environment

Hit Rail’s positioning in ICT provision

Network – IP based

Web Services as Utilities

Applications of Other Sectors

Railway Applications

Intero

perab

ility req

uirem

ent

Valu

e creation

o

pp

ortu

nity














Web Services as UtilitiesWeb Services as UtilitiesHit Rail as a provider of ICT based utility services to enable

other railway organisations to add value through cooperation


Agenda

1. History

2. Strategy Study





Hit Rail New Business Strategy (1)


Hit Rail New Business Strategy (2)



International Railway Organisations

Develop Business Alliances

Approach Collaborative partnership with railway stakeholders to enable win-win

Value Proposition

• Reduction in partners’ ICT Capex & Opex• Ease of access, simplified interfaces to cross-border railway applications • Secure connection to the open Internet• A one stop shop for interoperability

Offer • Leverage Hit Rail’s Utility Services to provide partners with, for example • Publishing of partners’ services• Translation • Forms input • Pass through• Publish and subscribe

• Additional TSI support to lower the risks by providing proven migration• Common Interface support for their requirements

Initial prospective partners

• Raildata• TAF CCG• RNE• Xrail

Our goal is to add value to business partners’ own offeringOur goal is to add value to business partners’ own offeringBrussels, 6 December 2011 16Railways@crossover

Alignment with EU Policy

• Proactive support of a smooth migration to TAF-TSI:• Freight message exchanges.• Infrastructure message exchanges.

• Participation in TAP-TSI working groups.• Support automatic distribution of standard code lists and

reference data.• Support for the Common Interface.• Support for the small players which are SMEs.• Targeting the new industry players (e.g. Wagon Owners and

Maintenance firms).


Agenda

1. History

2. Strategy Study


4. Web Service Platform



Hit Rail Web Service: Basic Principles

• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) compliant.

• Open standards based.

• Optimal use of open source software.

• Hardware and software independent.

• Organic growth from inside out.

• Anticipating the future.

• Safe-guarding Hermes as a network of choice.


Data communication Authentication & identification Validation of messages Transformation of messages Data enrichment Routing of messages

Data communication Authentication & identification Validation of messages Transformation of messages Data enrichment Routing of messages

Digital cooperation

Benefits: Reduce Cost Improve efficiency Decrease failures Improve customer satisfaction Increase visibility

Hit Rail Web Service: Cooperation

Note: Web services may be delivered in partnership with other railway organisations

• Web Service Block:

– Web service Hub, Login Security and authentication, Service management and monitoring, Validator, Repository.

• Alternative Transport Block:

– HOSA FTP and MQ.

• Translation Block:

– Mapping tool.

– Messages H30 and H01.

• Publish & Subscribe Block:

– P & S Service.

• Client Agent Block:

– Client service.

• Form Block:

– H30 form.

Hit Rail Web Service: Functional Blocks


Hit Rail Web Service: Support to the Railways

• Reservation requests (UIC 918-1).

• Conversion of freight messages between versions.

• Conversion between UIC messages and TAF messages.

• Data Capture for generation of UIC or TAF messages.

• Exchange of reference files (Pub&Sub).

• Facilitate RUs sending train formation messages to IMs.

• Facilitate progressive TAF implementation

• Forwarding path requests (IMs).

• Transmission of bulk accounting

files (RUs).

• Support for Common Interface.

• A test bed for experimentation!


• Contract signed with Copernicus (NL) and Oltis (CZ) companies to build the basic Hit Rail Web Service Platform.

• Develop incrementally during 2011 and 2012.

• Ready for Production: end 2Q 2012.

• Initial offering in 3Q 2012 will cover:– Low entry freight users.– Support for Passenger xml messages.– Specific services by IM, Freight and

Passenger groups.

• Plan to progressively enhance

the services through to 2016.

• Additional services to be considered

based on railways’ needs.

• An incremental step towards

migration to cloud computing (2016+).

Hit Rail Web Service: Implementation


Agenda

1. History

2. Strategy Study





Unique Value Proposition

• A solid history, proven track record and success in mobilising stakeholders to deliver long term, tangible results.

• Commitment to work collaboratively with other railway stakeholders by providing non-competitive utility services that others can build on.

• Commitment to interoperability and other EU policy objectives as a trusted and neutral facilitator.

• New business strategy by tapping into new opportunities in ICT.

• Implementing Web Services to facilitate interoperability of cross border business applications.


Hit Rail’s Vision for the Future

Effective competition

Transparencyto allow customer

choice

Open accessand

ease of access

Quality servicesat lower cost

Sustainabletransport

Continuousbusiness

innovation

The ICT business is Hit Rail’s business, Hit Rail’s business is the railways’ business


Documents

Railways@Crossover Helping European Railways Transition to the Digital Future through Cooperation 6 December 2011 European Parliament, Brussels Prepared