A foremost supplier of railway engineering system: Vossloh Information Technologies GmbH making solid progress - Vossloh: focus on transport technology

International Railway Journal, March, 2004

Vossloh Information Technologies GmbH (Vossloh IT), based in Kiel, is a foremost supplier of railway systems technology in Europe. Jointly with its customers, the company develops information and communications technologies which support efficient rail operations. Customers benefit by being able to provide an attractive service for their passengers and streamlined control processes, as well as reduced operating and staff costs.

As a specialist for rail transport companies Vossloh IT covers four central areas:

--special planning, management and simulation systems for operators

--operations control systems for national, regional and urban railways

--signalling technology with electronic interlocking systems for small and medium-sized stations

--passenger information systems for urban public transport, national railways, and airports

All the systems offered feature a high degree of automation and are developed at our facilities in Kid, Munich, York and Maimo. To meet growing demand, Vossloh IT's Europe-wide activities are being systematically expanded, including the provision of on-site service visits, backed up by our branch offices in Berlin, Zurich and Vienna as well as the recently-opened sales office in Budapest. Vossloh IT currently employs a workforce of 300, chiefly comprising railway experts, engineers and IT specialists. The company's expertise is demonstrated by more than 20 years' practical experience in consultancy, project management, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance in relation to customised information systems. Our project teams understand the business processes of railways and transport companies, developing system solutions that are specially tailored to customers' needs. They also draw up strategies and concepts for improving operations management efficiency while incorporating problem-solving solutions for functioning systems. This also applies to concepts for integrating existing and new technologies.

WIDE-RANGING PRODUCTS AND SOLUIIONS

In cooperation with leading transport companies, Vossloh IT implements forward-looking IT system solutions based on professional project management. The company's planning systems are employed in the operations planning processes of railway infrastructure and transport companies, chiefly in infrastructure assessment, timetable drafting, and resource planning.

As one of the foremost suppliers of operations control technology, Vossloh IT has been developing integrated operations control systems for railways for more than 20 years, providing impressive solutions for the efficient operations management of national, and regional and urban railways as well as rail transport companies. The state-of-the-art products developed by Vossloh 1T help railways to run their services reliably and punctually, with effective integrated monitoring and control functions boosting rail operating efficiency.

Signalling Technology is Vossloh IT's most recently established unit. The Swedish company NovoSignal AB, which was taken over at the end of 2001 and now operates under the name Vosslob IT Maim6, develops and produces control systems as well as electronic interlockings for small and medium-sized stations. Owing to the growing demand in Europe for small and medium-sized stations that can be run more economically and the increasing pressure on regional railways to reduce costs, several thousand interlockings will have to be replaced throughout Europe during the next 10 years. To meet this particular need, Vossloh IT Maltao in cooperation with the Swedish National Rail Administration (Banverket) has come up with an innovative solution based on the European standard, but using predominantly standard components of proven industrial performance and reliability. This not only leads to considerable cost savings, but also increases future-compliance.

Vossloh IT offers a networked operations information system to provide our railway customers and their employees with all the information they require online and inform them automatically of any changes to scheduled services. The system collects operating data such as train schedules or routes, analyses and interlinks this information, and then directs it to where it is needed. The system supplies a complete and up-to-date data pool as the basis for operating control decisions. Automation helps to reduce staff workload while providing the platform for operating information relevant for safety.

COMPLETE PASSENGER INFORMATION CONCEPTS

Vossloh IT is developing complete passenger information concepts to provide passengers with comprehensive assistance both in planning their journeys and while they are actually travelling. The company offers highly-automated comprehensive static and mobile passenger information solutions, using both audio and visual transmission. The passenger information systems developed by Vossloh Information Technologies Karlsfeld are available in a wide variety of display technologies. At the same time, the company is working on the new technologies of the future such as electronic ink.