Smart Railway Station Categorization, Czech Republic

Why?

The categorization of Smart Railway stations over the Czech Republic is the result of a  collaboration with the Czech Technical University in Prague – Faculty of Transportation. The aim of this project is to build a methodology to categorize the Czech railway stations in order to analyse their performance according to various criteria gathered under the 3 aspects of Smart Station concept:

  • The users
  • The services
  • The infrastructure

All these criteria are analysed and interpreted under a larger concept that we called the Smart Railway Station Categorization index, which represents the level of sustainability of each Czech station.

SMART CITY 1

Methodology

1. Smart railway stations (building part)

Within the construction part, we use the standard SBToolCZ methodology for the evaluation of smart buildings. The SBToolCZ methodology is based on three pillars of sustainability – environmental, social and economic. Another aspect is the evaluation of the site. It is a comprehensive assessment of building quality, which sets the quality standards of the building through the individual pillars of sustainability, i.e. requirements for energy efficiency (envelope and building technology), materials used, water management, use of greenery, acoustic, lighting, indoor thermal comfort, barrier-free solution, safety, economic optimization throughout the building life cycle and facility management requirements (includes waste management).

The aim is to modify the building so that it is more sustainable, environmentally friendly, energy efficient and highly functional for each user.

2. Technological equipment of smart railway stations (technological part)
A. Smart interior equipment of station buildings that can be considered:
  • Security camera systems (automatic detection of critical / emergency situations)

  • Information and navigation systems (passenger display panels, platform and platform navigation systems)

  • Internal communication systems (SOS voices, radio, WiFi coverage)

  • Technology to support travellers with disabilities

  • Information kiosks / robots displaying tourist information, local advertising.

  • Smart applications for smartphones connected to information systems of smart stations

B. Smart railway station building control systems that can be considered:
  • Virtual models of crisis situations (simulation of the evacuation of the station building, digital emergency plans, remote control of emergency vehicles)

  • Automation of internal processes of the station building (key management, access control, dispatching control)

  • Security management – solving crisis situations using predefined security plans presented using digital technologies based on available data (simulation and modelling of critical situations)

  • Call center (shared by several station buildings or service to carriers, information of all kinds)

Calculation

The calculation of the categorization of railway stations is built from four elements:

1. Categorization of railway stations and stops (C)

Itself the outcome of the following elements : 

    • Passenger frequency (A)

    • Number of trains stopping at the station (T)

    • Number of leading edges (P)

    • Total area of the railway station / stop (S)

    • Connection to other modes of transport (I)

2. Distance of railway stations and stops from the city-center (D)

3. Monument protection of railway stations and stops (HH)

This index identifies the station buildings that are subject to monument protection: if the building is a cultural monument, it lies in a monument zone, monument reserve or their protection zone. We attribute a high score in the classification, as any improvement of these buildings is associated with higher administrative and capital costs.

No monument protection: HH index = 0.8.        Monument protection : HH index = 1.0.

4. Equipment and accessibility of railway stations and stops (FaA).

Obtained by multiplying the coefficient of accessibility and the coefficient of platform roofing.

    • Accessibility:

      • Accessibility of the building

      • Accessibility of the platform

      • Accessibility to hearing impaired

      • Accessibility to visually impaired

      • Accessibility WC

    • Platform roofing – Y/N

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Smartrailway
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Results

The map enabled Ecoten to identify pilot projects (stations) :

  • Pardubice – national significance (23 200 persons per day)
  • Lysá nad Labem – provincial significance (11 600 persons per day)
  • Nymburk – provincial significance (9 300 persons per day)
  • Poděbrady – regional significance (4 900 persons per day)
  • Uherské Hradiště – regional significance  (4 100 persons per day)

This project also allowed us to define measures based on the Smart railway station methodology.

We integrated 3 categories of measures as described by the Smart railway station methodology:

  • Innovation HUB – place for work, meeting and relax. Measures – identification of suitable spaces, their extent and equipment

  • Digital HUB – integration of energy efficiency, renewable energy and generally technically advance solutions. Measures – identification and calculation of energy saving options, spaces for photovoltaic panels and CHPs (Combines Heat and Power plants)

  • Mobility HUB – clean mobility. Measures – Charging stations

 


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