The Digitised Railway Facility Management System and the Application of GIS and GPS to Railway Operations

Abstract

The railway facility management system that incorporates a geographic information system (GIS) is now widely used in Japan’s railway sector. This system was originally developed in Japan for the maintenance and management of railway facilities by digitising asset information. Digitising asset information facilitated a seamless flow of data for railway engineering projects and the different sections and organisations of the railways. As operating railways through vertical separation has become the norm, this system can be utilised to share data among organisations. Moreover, the application of a global positioning system (GPS) made it possible to detect train locations, which resulted in developing train location and train driving support systems. The experiences in Japan demonstrate that the operation and management of railways can be improved by digitising asset information and using the GIS and GPS.