EBuLa

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EBuLa , E lectronic B uchfahrplan u nd La ngsamfahrstellen is a system of Deutsche Bahn AG , which by its IT subsidiary DB Systel is developed, maintained and operated. It replaces the book timetables with the travel times and speed booklets that previously had to be carried in the driver's cab of the locomotives and control cars . The electronic book timetable is generally available and extensively implemented. EBu is updated over the air.

It was also planned to replace the overview of the temporary speed limits and other special features (La) . There are clearly no organizational requirements and operational presentation rules that are suitable for the vehicle driver. Therefore, this project was abandoned in 2014.

A portion of the book drop timetable (1983) according to a schedule change in Bw Mannheim Rbf
A set of new book timetables on a class 110 driver's cab

prehistory

Before the introduction of EBuLa, the Deutsche Bundesbahn had considerable amounts of waste paper in the form of printed book timetables , which had to be replaced on every locomotive with every change . In addition, the printed book timetables had to be corrected and supplemented within the half-year timetable. Therefore, outdated book timetables were generated by the ton every time the plan was changed in every depot . They were in skeleton containers collected and recycled fed.

Microfiche card

In the summer of 1982, gave drivers a suggestion one, which should reduce the waste of paper and labor expenses. The best known method of storing large amounts of paper at the time was microfiche . However, this procedure could not be used on a moving locomotive, as the vibrations severely restricted or even not possible to read on a fiche page that was enlarged several times.

Timetable sample printout with VC20 character set

The idea was to use a computer to solve the problem. A first EBuLa sample timetable (including the slow speed zones and construction sites) was printed out on continuous paper with VC20 special characters . The potential savings were estimated at over nine million DM. Several ideas were shown how the basic sequence of an electronically created book timetable should be (division of the train route sections and travel times in files - now common as speed and travel times booklet - supplemented with a third file of the slow speed areas, which are put together again in modules to form the book timetable become). Even the transmission of timetable data via the train radio , which was already available at the time, and the display on an LCD monitor in the driver's cab of the locomotive was encouraged.

Suggestion for improvement of the electronic book timetable - interim decision of the Federal Railroad of 6 September 1983

On August 24, 1982 the suggestion for improvement was submitted with several additions to the DB's suggestion scheme. The letter of September 6, 1983 officially confirmed the new idea and was protected with priority for five years. In January 1986 the proposal was judged to be too futuristic, put aside as unthinkable for reasons of cost and disappeared in the DB archives. The processing speed of even an IBM PC AT did not seem to be sufficient for the amount of data involved. It was only with the CD-R , which was presented to the public in 1988, that there was an opportunity to save the timetable data that was generated at low cost.

development

Official considerations for an electronic system for the provision of the book timetable and other documents that are important for the driver go back to 1987. The main goal was to replace the large number of documents kept in paper form on a traction vehicle and by a train driver with an inexpensive, easy-to-update electronic version. The documents included train directories, travel time booklets, speed booklets, preliminary remarks on the book timetables, route lists and diversion timetables. Depending on the series, around 150 to 250 documents were kept in paper form for each vehicle; With the electronic book timetable, the number of these documents should be reduced to an absolutely necessary level of around 20 per vehicle in the event of a fault. In addition, the clarity (and thus the security) should be increased with the help of the electronic representation; The summary of the diverse information on one device, instead of several documents, should serve this goal. Another aim was to transmit short-term changes in the event of a fault via train radio (or other systems) in order to avoid having to stop to take a written or telephone command. The information, fed from an unchangeable basic file with short-term changes in other files, should be displayed on a monitor that can be retrofitted and easily replaced in the event of a fault.

Letter from 1996 about the introduction of the EBula

In March 1994 the management board of DB decided on the electronic book timetable project . With the onset of falling hardware prices, the costs could be brought into manageable dimensions. The development of the EBuLa system began. There were many reasons for this, but the main reason was to reduce costs. Until now, the book timetables had to be reprinted at least once a year. Changes that arose in the current year had to be laboriously incorporated by hand. There was also a logistical task. Depending on the area in which the locomotives were used, they had to be equipped with different plans. If, as an exception, a locomotive was to be used on a different route, the corresponding book timetables had to be obtained first. All of this cost millions annually, so other options had to be found. The result was the electronic book timetable .

On December 15, 1997, the board of directors of Deutsche Bahn decided to introduce the electronic book timetable for September 1999. For this reason, the locomotives and control cars were gradually equipped with the EBuLa on-board devices from 1998 onwards. From February 22, 1999, a so-called integration test ran between Dresden and Děčín , in which the interaction of vehicles, EBuLa on-board devices and data was tested. Further field tests followed. The introduction planned for September 1999 was delayed, among other things due to software problems. At the beginning of 2000, it was planned to equip 97 percent of the locomotives with on-board units by the end of 2000 and to put EBuLa into operation in parallel to the book timetables from the beginning of November 2000; From March 2001, book timetables should then only serve as a fallback level, at the turn of the year 2001/2002 only EBuLa should be used. On June 12, 2001, the board of directors of Deutsche Bahn decided to introduce EBuLa across the board by December 15, 2002, initially without integrating the register of slow speed zones (La). All train drivers and locomotive shunting drivers should be trained by March 15, 2002 and then the EBuLa data should be declared valid and authoritative nationwide.

System EBuLa

EBuLa on-board device in the driver's cab of the 185 series

The system consists of an on-board device in the driver's cab for displaying the timetable and an EBuLa radio server for transmitting the timetable data.

hardware

The EBuLa on-board devices (computer unit with display and control unit) are based on industrial computers from DLoG, Gercom / Deuta and Gersys, the DLog devices being the oldest generation. The hardware is mostly proprietary . As processors come with the DLoG devices soldered 133- MHz - AMD - CPUs are used, which Gercom devices rely on slot-in CPU modules with integrated BIOS from Epson. The operating system and the EBuLa software are installed on 2.5 ″ hard disks (capacity between 1.0 and 20  GB ). The Gercom and Gersys devices have a CompactFlash memory card installed as a black box and emergency boot medium. Windows 95 , Windows NT or Windows XP in adapted embedded versions are used as the operating system . Hard disks with a size from 1.6 to approx. 20 GB, as well as the embedded version of Windows XP, are used in the Deuta device with the designation "MFT2".

Subsequently installed EBuLa on-board device in the driver's cab of the 628 series

Hardware problems arose when the systems experienced their first winter - locomotives are usually parked outdoors at night and are not heated, so that the on-board computers suffered cold damage or short circuits occurred due to the formation of condensation. In the summer, the temperatures in the housing rose so much that even the frugal 486 systems quit. Attempts were made to remedy this by installing a combined device heating and ventilation system, which brings the device to a temperature in the specified range (0–55 ° C) before switching it on and maintains this temperature during operation. On some locomotives, the devices could not be integrated into the driver's desk, but had to be partially suspended freely, which in connection with the running behavior of certain post-war locomotives (e.g. series 110 , 140 ) led to such strong monitor vibrations that not only the train driver could no longer read the displays of the device, and hardware components were also damaged. The PCMCIA slots available in the generation of devices at that time also turned out to be problematic, as the contacts could be bent through frequent plugging operations. For this reason, all PCMCIA cards were replaced and the problem solved.

software

On the software side, the underlying Microsoft operating systems turned out to be quite reliable, as they only have to fulfill a limited range of tasks in the EBuLa device. The problems lay in a completely different area: at the time of the start of the first large-scale test, the schedule data and the device software were not ready in time, but the devices had to be operated for reasons of guarantee and during this time they displayed a test image that showed a clock. According to the Railway Building and Operating Regulations (EBO), the devices and systems used on locomotives must meet certain safety requirements and be approved by the Federal Railway Authority (EBA), as the train driver has to rely on the correctness of the displayed speeds, for example. Of course, this also applies to the EBuLa on-board device software. This requirement was not met in the first two test runs of the EBuLa system. The driver was allowed to drive with an EBuLa timetable, but still had to be able to use a paper version. Since the widespread use of EBuLa, the on-board device software has been approved by the EBA with every release . It is no longer necessary to carry printed book timetables with you.

In contrast to the classic book timetable, with EBuLa the reading direction of the timetable is from bottom to top according to the spatial impression when driving. The current position is indicated by a place marker. The device automatically scrolls the timetable section displayed on the screen by default. The impulses for this come either from a time control, which is set in motion by the driver at departure at the starting point of operation, or from a location control, which tracks the distance covered by the train via wheelset sensors or GPS . The advantage of the location control is that it does not have to be readjusted manually in the event of delays after the train has departed. The location control is a prerequisite for the use of the additional function energy-saving driving style (ESF) . Alternatively, the place marker can be controlled manually.

Response to malfunctions

An electronic system always has the disadvantage that it can fail due to a malfunction. There are several fallback levels for this case.

If the EBuLa on-board device fails before the start of the journey and a repair is not possible, a new vehicle must be provided or a timetable is printed out and made available to the driver. Printing is done via the Internet / Intranet fall-back level (EBuLa-IRE), which can be carried out from any PC in the Deutsche Bahn intranet and, since autumn 2006, alternatively via the Internet. EBuLa-IRE is a web application in classic thin client / server architecture that enables the display and printing of book timetables. The backend system of the IRE is designed as a multi-line solution so that there is a high level of reliability.

If the EBuLa on-board device fails while driving, the train must be stopped. If there is no printed replacement timetable , the operations center issues a timetable notification ( timetable arrangement ). If both are not available, the train continues at a maximum of 40 km / h, unless the replacement timetable column 40 km / h or the La specify lower speeds.

EBuLa radio

Since the widespread introduction of GSM-R with roaming , the timetable data has been called up via a GSM radio link. After entering the train number on the EBuLa on-board device, the call is automatically set up via the GSM-R train radio device and the GSM-R network to the EBuLa radio server. From there, the schedule data is transmitted by radio.

Originally the system worked with the current timetable data stored on a CD-ROM . Schedule corrections and software updates were imported into the device with the help of a PCMCIA memory card that every train driver brought with him. At the start of work, the card was updated at one of the data stations (DaSt) available in all 650 personnel deployment locations. A data station was a PC with Microsoft Windows NT operating system and a built-in PCMCIA slot. A Windows application was installed on the computers that automatically copied the daily updated timetable data to an EBuLa card as soon as it was inserted into the PCMCIA slot.

Since the data was read from the EBuLa card and saved in the EBuLa on-board device, it only had to be inserted once a day.

The development of EBuLa-Funk was completed at the end of 2003. This was then tested in practice in various regions. The successive introduction of EBuLa radio started on August 1st, 2006. At first, PCMCIA card and EBuLa radio were operated in parallel. An attempt was first made on radio-capable on-board devices to access the data by radio. If this failed, the timetable data stored on the card was used. It was only possible to do without the card when all EBuLa on-board devices had been converted to EBuLa radio and EBuLa radio - via roaming - worked everywhere. By the end of 2006, around 6,000 of the total of around 8,000 DB AG traction vehicles had been converted to radio. With the timetable change in December 2008, the EBuLa data transmission for all Deutsche Bahn trains was switched to EBuLa radio. The previous card procedure has been discontinued. According to information from Deutsche Bahn, this reduced the time until changes to the timetable were transferred to the on-board device from 72 to less than five hours. This could save 2.5 million euros per year.

Extensions

In addition to the display of the book timetable by the EBuLa on-board device, there are other components.

Energy consumption display

In some series, the EBuLa board device to the electronic energy meter, called TEMA box (is T raktions- E nergie- M easurement and - A groundbreaking voltage) connected. The TEMA-Box determines the energy consumption of the traction vehicle and transmits this value to the EBuLa on-board device. There the driver can see how much energy he has used for the train journey and how much energy has been fed back if necessary.

Energy-saving driving style (ESF)

Vehicles with location control allow energy-efficient driving with ESF. Based on the data stored in the EBuLa on-board device, the optimal time to switch off the power is determined and displayed using ESF. If the driver switches off the energy supply on the recommendation of the on-board device, the train rolls without power to the next station and arrives there on time if the operation is smooth. For this purpose, ESF determines the energetically optimal switch-off points on the basis of the timetable, the route profile, the vehicle data and the current travel time buffer and displays them in EBuLa. For certain vehicles, ESF also determines driving recommendations for driving at a reduced top speed.

Deutsche Bahn, as the largest energy consumer in Germany, needs around 128,000 terajoules of primary energy per year. 16,000 gigawatt hours GWh of electrical power are used for traction. This alone corresponds to the energy requirements of approx. 5 million households throughout Germany (as of 2012). In addition, around 400 million liters of diesel fuel are used each year.

That is why the “EnergieSparen (ES)” project was started in order to reduce electricity consumption in the passenger transport division by 10 percent. For this purpose, all locomotives / multiple units at DB Regio were equipped with electricity meters by the end of 2003. Measurements and tests have shown that the targeted reductions in consumption are possible. Extrapolated to passenger transport, this results in savings potential of around EUR 30 million / year or EUR 83,000 / day.

The aim of energy-saving driving is to cover a specified route with a specific train in the scheduled time determined for this with minimal energy consumption. In total, savings potentials of up to 20 percent are possible in the long term. In addition, the driver's way of driving should contribute to saving operating and maintenance costs. Three modes of operation can be used to save energy:

  • Coasting with switched off traction:
Firm starting, driving at top speed, early switch-off and long coasting results in minimal energy consumption when driving on a tight schedule
  • Reduce the top speed:
starting up tightly, driving at reduced top speed and short coasting and
  • Reduce the tractive force / drive level:
A firm start-up, driving at a reduced speed and short coasting save energy if the time buffers are used to the maximum.

The greatest savings are achieved through the longest possible run-out when the traction is switched off.

Train control green function (ZLR)

Since 2018, EBuLa has also been able to display driving recommendations from the "Train control green function" process. The driving recommendations are determined in the DB Netz operations center based on the current operational situation.

Current situation

In December 2002, EBuLa was introduced as a standard procedure at DB AG and has been running on most of the locomotive series since then.

Printed book timetables are required in particular in the event of technical malfunctions in the EBuLa process or device. The integration of the La data was tested until 2014 and then abandoned, so that the printed La cannot currently be dispensed with.

At the turn of the year 2008/2009 the data stations (DaSt) for loading the EBuLa card were taken out of service. The daily updated data is only loaded via EBuLa radio.

From the end of 2009, EBuLa was also available for occasional trips in test mode. With the timetable change on December 12, 2010, EBuLa was also fully usable for occasional traffic.

Starting with the timetable change in December 2011, speed limits for regular routes were also integrated in EBuLa for several weeks. The display of speed restrictions on deviating routes should follow when the timetable changes in December 2012. At the beginning of December 2014, Deutsche Bahn declared the project to represent the speed limit stops as part of EBuLa as failed. All technical solutions would have delivered inadequate results. For the 2017 annual timetable, LA documents are to be provided electronically in PDF and HTML format instead.

The use of EBuLa for short-term diversions was originally only possible with the "diversion under easier conditions" procedure, but not for larger diversions with a written timetable arrangement (Fplo). Since the 2012/2013 timetable change, a trial “Fplo in EBuLa” has been running, which is gradually being extended to other railway companies. Together with the Fplo, the driver is given information with which he can compile the diversion timetable on the EBuLa device.

In the future, the timetable data will no longer be limited to Germany. For Deutsche Bahn traction vehicles that travel to Austria , the timetable data for the neighboring country is integrated in EBuLa.

Other systems

In addition to this system created by DB AG, there are other systems that either cover the complete range of functions of EBuLa, parts of it or go beyond it.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Abortion of La in EBuLa and future La data provision. Customer information 49/2014 of DB Netz AG. In: www.dbnetze.com . Deutsche Bahn AG, December 4, 2014, accessed on November 7, 2018 .
  2. ^ Rainer Hankel, Wolf-Rüdiger Junge, Michael Seemann, Thomas Siefer: The electronic book timetable . In: Railway technical review . tape 38 , no. 7/8 , 1989, pp. 481-485 .
  3. ^ Deutsche Bahn (ed.): Your train . No. 10 , 1995.
  4. ↑ Message EBula goes into operation . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 7/8, year 1999, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 283
  5. ↑ Message EBuLa introduction delayed . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 4/2000, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 150.
  6. ↑ Report EBuLa introduction . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 10/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 426.
  7. ↑ Across continents - the DB Award also goes to Peru . In: Deutsche Bahn (Ed.): DB World . December 2009, special edition (supplement), p. 2 f .
  8. ^ Deutsche Bahn (Ed.): EBuLa-Funk is active . April 2009.
  9. ↑ World premiere in 16,000 cabs . New development from DB Netz: Current timetable data are transmitted to the train by radio. In: Deutsche Bahn (Ed.): DB World . March 2009, p. 10 .
  10. ↑ Good ideas for traction electricity billing. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: www.dbenergie.de . DB Energie GmbH, November 11, 2009, archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; Retrieved May 20, 2010 .
  11. ↑ Data and facts on energy consumption in rail transport http://www.forschungsinformationssystem.de/servlet/is/342234/ , accessed on December 7, 2015
  12. ↑ EBuLa radio for special trains becomes a regular procedure. In: Netznachrichten, edition 4/2010. (No longer available online.) In: www.dbnetz.de . DB Netz AG, December 6, 2010, p. 7 , archived from the original on September 5, 2014 ; accessed on December 27, 2010 ( ZDB -ID 2548162-9 ).
  13. ↑ EBuLa: Extension of the timetable change . In: NetzNachrichten , issue 4/2011, p. 2 ZDB -ID 2548162-9 .

Web links

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 3, 2007 .