RAIL DELIVERY GROUP

Enabling a Rail Data Marketplace for enhancing sustainability and data-based innovation within the rail ecosystem

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), working on the Rail Data Council’s directive, designated TCS as its technology partner and officially launched the Rail Data Marketplace programme. Built on TCS Dexam™, the Rail Data Marketplace aims to bring all strategic partners (which includes Department for Transport, the Rail Supply Group, GBRTT, RSSB, and Network Rail), data publishers, and consumers (app developers, tech companies, academic institutions, and the rail industry) onto a single strategic platform making data searchable, easy to find, and seamless to access. Furthermore, the platform will measure environmental characteristics, allowing it to support the UK’s rail decarbonization plan.

Business Objectives

To create a user centered, digital service platform to enable:

Access to real-time data and rail information to foster an environment for innovation and to develop customer-centric solutions.

Data Sharing in Rail Ecosystem to deliver improved efficiency across the industry..

Promote Public-Private collaboration to augment growth in rail and cross modal public transportation. Common Learning Platform for users by enabling access to rich source of rail industry data.

Solution

TCS is developing the world’s first countrywide rail data marketplace powered by TCS Dexam™, (in partnership with Google).

The solution facilitates.

Publishing of UK Rail and associated data assets in a catalogue

Consolidation and standardization of patterns for data sharing – REST APIs, Pub/Sub Analytics on API / data usage management and consumption

Monitoring and reporting on availability of data sources

Controlled access to data assets through Licenses and Contracts

Metadata and taxonomy to help categorization of data assets and data classification..

Benefit to RDM Stakeholders

• The Rail Data Marketplace will help stakeholders to access authenticated data transparently and present a ‘single source of truth’.

• Drive value across the rail industry through coordinated access to shareable data via an ecosystem of federated APIs and other data sources.

• Establish community forums for RDM users to act as knowledge hub, raise issues, make suggestions for improvements, and request new datasets.

• Deliver enhancements, new features, services, and datasets catering to user needs.

• Easy to explore existing data sources.

Business Benefits

• Better ways of sharing authenticated data transparently and facilitate real-time information to passengers and freight customers.

• Improved data sharing across operational bodies within the rail data ecosystem and beyond, with a foundation pillar of ‘open data’ by default but also fully functional in supporting commercialised data products.

Stimulate Innovation, sustainability and transparency in rail information and associated data. In one user research interview, a large commercial organisation said: “If someone has a great idea about how our data could be utilised we would actively look to ‘seed fund’ the individual or organisation.” Enable new customer focused products and services to improve passenger experience.

More effective movement of goods at reduced costs.

CONTACT:

Madhvi Pandey madhvi.pandey@tcs.com

Ravindran Lovesh r.lovesh@tcs.com

Clare Morrissey

Clare.Morrissey@raildeliverygroup.com