Trains of Data | Trains in Time

. introduction
The Senseable City Lab has partnered with the SNCF division for research and innovation to investigate new ways of gaining insight into how people access different parts of France using the country's high speed railway system. Today's transportation networks are densely packed with sensors and digital systems to facilitate routine operations. The two visual applications below combine several data sets generated by these systems to provide new perspectives on how France moves on rail.

. trains in time
Trains, at times, do run late. While a rail network operator is interested in reducing overall delay as such, an especially critical aspect relates to the number of passengers directly affected by such delays and their location.
In this visualization we combine data on the time trains run behind schedule with the actual number of passengers on any train at any moment. This information is represented at the actual location of a train on SNCF's high speed rail network. With this, a rail operator can quickly understand where many passengers are affected by train delays and use this information to take appropriate action, ultimately limiting delay per passenger and increasing overall passenger satisfaction.

. team
Kristian Kloeckl, project leader
Xiaoji Chen
Christian Sommer
Carlo Ratti, director
Assaf Biderman, associate director

a project by
MIT Senseable City Lab

in collaboration with
SNCF

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Yannick aka. Orhion]

Because in the middle of France, there is a big chain of mountains called "Massif Central" which isn't traversed by the TGV due to the nature and difficulty of the land.

[Raminagrobisfr]

That region is montainous and sparsely populated

[Robert de Wasseige]

Mais non c'est la couleur des trains ;)

[gnoux23]

Green = Ok, Red = Late. I think there is too much red circles on this animation.

( Vert = Ok, Rouge = en retard. Je pense qu'il y a trop de cercles rouges dans cette animation.) Question de gout MDR.

[xtribtb]

it's just the sncf trains (national trafic) without eurostar/thalys/lyria (international trafic)

[21centuryg]

what program was this made in?

[elfabyanos]

Does not show full service on LGV Nord or LGV Est.

[Christophe B]

TGV has its own railway system. It only shares common railways with classic train when it enters terminus cities. So you say BS.

[TubeofDestiny]

When a TGV is 5/10 minutes late, all cheaper trains are put on hold to let it go without waiting. You end up with a 45 minutes "late" train, waiting at the station.

Moral of the story: next time, stop being so poor and you'll arrive (almost) on time.

[TubeofDestiny]

and you don't deserve an Internet access for being so dumb :D

[Robin Labadie]

Si je résume, en suisse c'est plus cher, mais y'a plus de personnel et moins de retard... A choisir, je ne sais vraiment pas ce qui est le mieux... Vu tous les problèmes que posent les retards, je crois que je préférerais la suisse, quitte à me ruiner un peu plus. ;)