Network graphics

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Network graphics (also line cycle map , line network map, ITF graph or route graphics ) are called a graph-like form of representation of cycle timetables . It shows the lines and junctions of a route network with their scheduled times. They are suitable for reproducing rigid cycle timetables of a route network.

history

Example network graphic with 5 nodes and 2 breakpoints with zero symmetry

The network graphic was created from a combination of a line network plan , as it is mostly used in city and local traffic , and a picture timetable , as it is used in timetable planning in railways. While the former clearly shows the course of the lines and, in some cases, the cycles in the entire network, the latter shows the course over time on a limited power supply unit (usually a single line).

The first approach to this was made in 1855 at the Swiss Post , when the stagecoach connection was published on a route map together with the arrival and departure times at important stations and distance information. Each individual connection was shown with a line. In today's network graphics, several connections in a line that run at regular intervals are usually represented by a single line.

The German Federal Railroad laid her course books from the late 1950s to the 1990s Network maps of its long-distance network in the form of leaflets "F network in the wallet", "IC network in the wallet", "inter-city road map" and "City- ICE / EC / IC timetable ”at.

In the German-speaking countries, network graphics were introduced as a timetable planning tool by the SBB timetable planners Berthouzoz, Meiner and Stähli in the early 1970s for the development of the Swiss regular timetable that went into operation in 1982 . They had adopted the form of representation from the Dutch Railways , which they had developed for their regular timetable in 1970. They saw the advantages of this form of representation as the clarity in complex networks and the ability to quickly assess different variants.

In 2002 , for the 20th anniversary of the Swiss regular timetable, the Swiss Railway Review published a network graphic for Switzerland as information material for passengers for the first time . This was created by the company SMA und Partner with their program Viriato and has since been published regularly updated in the magazines of the publisher Minirex . This is also published by the SBB itself in their course book .

In addition, now more and SMA Network maps such as the were S-Bahn Zurich , the Munich S-Bahn and rail transport in southern Norway and Austria made publicly available.

In Germany, among others, the S-Bahn Rhein-Main uses network graphics for passenger information in its so-called route timetable , the Aachener Verkehrsverbund with its so-called interval timetable and the Zweckverband Personalennahverkehr Westfalen Süd . On the back of most of the folding timetables of the S-Bahn RheinNeckar there is an imprint of the VCD timetable card.

In addition, network graphics are used in the long-term planning of rail traffic by railway infrastructure companies and regional rail transport authorities , as well as in specialist articles, in particular on the subject of integral cycle timetables.

Since 2013 the Bavarian Railway Company has published an annually updated network graphic for local rail passenger transport in Bavaria and for the Munich S-Bahn.

In 2015, the Competence Center Integral Intermittent Traffic NRW published a network graphic for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in cooperation with SMA + Partner.

description

Clock node network diagram of the planned node system in Switzerland in 2030
Representation of the clock node in Euskirchen with the help of a network graphic excerpt

The network graphic adds a third dimension, time, to the two-dimensional line network plan. In this way, the cycle timetable with small cycles of an area can be clearly displayed in a network graphic. Strictly clocked systems can even be completely mapped here. In most clocked networks, however, there are deviations in the clock structure, so that mostly only the basic clock is displayed and deviations or exceptions are noted with notes or drawn as specially marked lines. In particular, connections, dependencies and symmetries between the cycle lines can be clearly displayed, provided the deviations from the strict cycle traffic are not too great.

The following is an example of the design of the Swiss network graphics published by Minirex, SBB and SMA and Partners. The design of other network graphics, line timing maps and line network maps sometimes differs greatly from this one.

  • Important stops are shown as rectangles, less important stops individually or combined as small circles. Their names are written near the important stops, the names of smaller stops do not appear. The stops are usually arranged topologically . In some cases, this design is deviated from in order to obtain line display that is free from intersections. For example, separation stations can be split up to improve clarity.
  • Each line is drawn as a line through all the stops it passes through. The line number is usually given in the longitudinal direction of these lines. The shape and color of the line can provide information about the cycle and type of train of the line. An hourly cycle is drawn as a full line, a two-hour cycle as a dashed line and a half-hourly cycle as a double full line.
  • At the more important stops, the respective arrival and departure minutes at this station are indicated on the lines. These can indicate by different types of font whether they are straight, i.e. H. at 0.xx, 2.xx, 4.xx ... o'clock, or odd, d. H. at 1.xx, 3.xx, 5.xx ... o'clock, hour. Depending on the driving order of the area shown, the arrival and departure times are arranged slightly offset to the right or left of the line. The arrival time is shown closer, the departure time further away from the node. For cycles that are less than hourly, usually only the times closest to the zero minute are given.
  • Special operational conditions can be used as symbols in the network graphic. Thus flights lungs associations represented as /, which separate the two wings lines in the node from the main line out. A circle is drawn around the dividing point of the lines.
  • In addition to the elements mentioned above, further comments can be recorded in the network graphic.

Computer programs

Network graphics are usually created with computer programs for creating and analyzing timetables. Among other things, the program systems FBS, Optitakt, RailSys, TAKT and Viriato include the possibility of creating network graphics. In these scheduling programs, the schedules created are automatically transferred to the network graphics. In the case of the creation using graphics and spreadsheet software , which is also used , these must be entered manually by the editor.

Modifications

Based on the network graphics that are accurate to the minute, clock node network graphics are also used in some cases. Here, only the edge travel times are specified with a quarter- hour accuracy and the transfer nodes are identified by their node times.

Another type of network graphics are so-called timetable maps. These are designed in a similar way to route plans and record the travel time and the frequency of the routes. However, they usually do not give precise arrival and departure times to the minute.

See also

literature

  • W. Stohler: A little history of network graphics. In: Swiss Railway Review. 7/2002, p. 316.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b IRFP: "FBS-Linientaktkarte" ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.irfp.de
  2. ↑ a b A. Radtke, A Henkel: Determination of the robustness of timetables. In: Railway technical review . 10/2012.
  3. ↑ Institute for Transport Planning and Transport Systems - ETH Zurich (Ed.): Glossary of Public Transport ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 11, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ivt.ethz.ch
  4. ↑ SMA and partners: "Network graphics - the focus is on the offer" ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sma-partner.ch
  5. ↑ Steffen Dutsch: Operational processes and operational planning in public transport. ( Memento from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Lecture documents, October 16, 2012, p. 50, accessed on January 28, 2014.
  6. ↑ a b W. Stohler: A little history of network graphics. In: Swiss Railway Review . 7/2002, p. 316.
  7. ↑ Detlev Hagemann: The F-Netz in the wallet for the winter of 1957/1958. January 23, 2013, accessed June 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Horst-Werner Dumjahn: Course books , accessed on June 24, 2014.
  9. ↑ Berthouzoz, my, Staehli: interval timetable Switzerland. 1972, pp. 6, 62.
  10. ^ A b c Samuel Stähli: On the development of the clock timetable in Switzerland. In: Tasks of the railways in a future transport system. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna , 1988.
  11. ↑ Swiss Federal Railways: Timetable fields - network graphic , accessed on January 28, 2014.
  12. ^ Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft: Netzgrafik S-Bahn Munich 2013 , accessed on January 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ SMA and partners: "Netzgrafik - Timetable Switzerland 2013 and Zurich S-Bahn 2013" ( Memento from December 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ^ DB Regio Region Hessen: S-Bahn Rhein-Main 2010/2011 route timetable ( Memento from November 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 216 kB)
  15. ↑ Euregiobahn: Train timetable , accessed on November 4, 2014.
  16. ↑ ZWS (Ed.): Timetable 2015 , accessed on April 18, 2015.
  17. ^ S-Bahn RheinNeckar: Download timetables
  18. ↑ VCD Regionalverband Rhein-Neckar: VCD timetable cards
  19. ↑ Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft: Verkehrsplanung , accessed on January 10, 2014.
  20. ↑ KC ITF NRW (ed.): Netzgrafik NRW 2015 , accessed on February 7, 2015.
  21. ^ George Rey, Werner Stohler: Swiss cycle timetable and network graphics 2014. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International. 1/2014, pp. 24-26.
  22. ^ J. Janick: System Knowledge Railway. Bahnfachverlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-9808002-6-6 , Chapter 5.3.3 Timetable and timetable creation.
  23. ↑ Network graphic of the timetable for connoisseurs. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. December 27, 2008, accessed January 11, 2014.
  24. ↑ Wolfgang Hesse, Michael Guckert: Optitakt. (PDF) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on June 24, 2014 (presentation at Cebit 2002).
  25. ↑ Michael Kümmling, Peter Großmann, Karl Nachtigall, Jens Opitz, Reyk Weiß: "The State-of-the-art Realization of Automatic Railway Timetable Computation", in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transport Systems 2013, Dresden
  26. ↑ Michael Kümmling, Peter Großmann, Karl Nachtigall, Jens Opitz, Reyk Weiß: A state-of-the-art realization of cyclic railway timetable computation . doi : 10.1007 / s12469-015-0108-5 ( tu-dresden.de [PDF]).
  27. ↑ SMA and partners: Viriato functionalities: network graphics. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016 ; accessed on October 10, 2016 .
  28. ↑ SMA and partners: Netzgrafik - Timetable Switzerland 2013 and Zurich S-Bahn 2013. 2013, archived from the original on December 21, 2012 ; accessed on October 10, 2016 .
  29. ↑ Verkehrsclub Deutschland : Timetable cards ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.vcd.org
  30. ↑ Reinhold Deussner: The timetable card - a new medium in regional public transport. Contributions to Symposium Corp '97, 1997, accessed January 28, 2014.