Railway operation was the first moving production line. In the first decades of railways, operation was an activity as such. Operation was the guiding force, it created the first telematics instruments (the relay stick for the driver, signals, etc.). The customer could be more than happy to get the favour of being transported by some honourable royal railway. Today things apparently have changed. The customer is king, and the operation is serving the customer, or, as the Association of American Railroads puts it: "Operation follows customer", and not vice versa. The consequences of this change are demonstrated by two examples: in freight in the medium term, the client's code for the consignment will control each step in operation, e.g. the wagon to train formation, the marshalling. In a similar way the number of tickets sold will control the capacity of passenger trains. Consequences of the EC-regulation 91/440 are the privatization of railways and the free access to the rail networks. The competition of operators on rail will enforce the competition of telematic services and intelligent systems in rail business, which is the topic of this paper.
Abstract