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CMC's
scheduling software runs the London Underground
on which over 460 trains crisscross each
other during peak hours, carrying more
than 800 million passengers a year.
The
product
Time-table
scheduling and signal data generation
system
Developing a system for timetabling
/ operation plan generation, after re-engineering
the original system
The
client
London
Underground Limited
The world's oldest and most complex
subway rail network
Over
460 trains during peak hours crisscross
each other over an area of 2000 sq km,
carrying over 800 million passengers a
year. The London Underground is the world's
oldest and most complex subway rail network.
Naturally, the job of designing its train
scheduling system was entrusted to one
of the leaders in information technology.
CMC
was awarded a contract by London Underground
in 1989, to migrate the system and to
design and develop a database for its
timetabling / operation plan generation
software. CMC successfully delivered the
CART (Computer Aided Railway Timetabling)
system then, and have been giving onsite
support to LUL, making necessary changes
to the system as and when required.
In
1998, CART was made available to the scheduling
department on their Windows PC using Hummingbird's
Exceed emulator. The CART software too,
was migrated to a more powerful SUN machine.
The migration to the new hardware platform
was done offshore in Hyderabad. The installation
and setting of the Exceed software was
done by the onsite team in London. This
arrangement made available the usual windows
application like MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint
to CART users. Previously, users had to
go to a different PC to do any other work.
In
2002, LUL took a decision to re-engineer
CART and use Oracle as the database. LUL
asked CMC to provide various solutions
for implementing the new system. CMC recommended
using Developer 6i with Oracle and also
provided training on Oracle to LUL key
staff. As proof of the concept project,
CMC developed a highly customised Workflow
Management Application (WMA) using Developer
6i and Oracle 8i for the scheduling department.
WMA provides automated Task Management,
Resource Management and Allocation Function
for the Scheduling Department. This software
was part of the migration of CART from
Ingres to Oracle. WMA was deployed in
May 2003 and since then has been used
by the scheduling department for generating
timetables. CMC was responsible for the
user interface, the physical database
design and the coding.
After
the success of WMA, CMC embarked on the
mammoth task of reverse engineering each
module of CART, identifying and removing
obsolete pieces of code and rewriting
the technical documentation. CMC is also
responsible for designing a Data Bridge
software which migrates user selected
timetables from the CART system to the
new COS (CART Oracle System) application.
CMC used LUL's standard software, System
Architect 2000, to create the dataflow
and entity relationship diagrams. In the
meanwhile, CMC is also responsible for
maintaining and enhancing the CART application.
Project
Maintaining the existing
CART / WMA application and developing
the COS system.
Background
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10
different subway lines |
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450 trains running concurrently |
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Total geographical area of 2000 sq
km |
LUL's
existing software
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Time-table
for each train |
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Input
tapes for signal control machines |
Technology
of the earlier application
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Ingres
6.4 |
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C, ESQLC and 4GL |
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Flat
files |
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1,50,000
lines of programme code |
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Unix
shell scripts |
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Postscript
outputs |
Functionality
of the earlier system
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Schedule
generation |
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Platform number generation |
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Schedule transformation |
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Working
time-table preparation |
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Signal
data generation |
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Mileage
statistics |
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Train
registers |
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ASCII
timetable export (CSV file) |
Problems
in the earlier system
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Expensive
to maintain and operate |
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Training
was difficult |
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Unsupported
database |
Technical
issues
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System
had to be reverse-engineered from
source code |
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Functionality of each module had to
be extracted from the source code |
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The
modules were redesigned completely
in a structured manner |
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Oracle relational
database was selected |
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System
designed using SSADM methodology |
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Developed PLSQL coding standards and
GUI design standards |
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Extensive
testing |
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All
analysis, design and programme documentation
using the system architect |
CMC's
tasks
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Re-designing
the application |
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Re-development in a client-server
environment |
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Creating
a friendly user interface |
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Removing
redundancies in the system |
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Providing
on-going system support |
The
new system has transformed the entire
time-table compilation process. It is
much easier to operate and maintain and
can be adapted to provide for the extension
of existing lines and the introduction
of new ones.
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