As a fleet controller for a Train Operating Company you quickly need to respond to disruptions occurring on day-of-operations. Delays can occur that impact the plan, rolling stock can break down, or tracks can be blocked, impacting the timetable and the location of the rolling stock. An updated plan that quickly returns to normal operations is needed in short time, a challenging task where every minute counts.

An optimizer can be of great help here in quickly finding those solutions in case of disruptions in which operations can return back to normal. It allows the fleet controller to also spend his time where it matters the most. DQ Fleet & Crew Planner 2024 Refresh3 contains a new fleet optimizer for the operational horizon that can be a great asset to the fleet controller. It can assign new tasks to rolling stock or reassign tasks quickly to other rolling stock in case of a disruption, focusing on the horizon the controller has given as input. An updated plan is proposed, which can then be reviewed by the controller before applying it back to the actual rolling stock plan. Try it out, and let us know what you think of it!