Development of 3D Visualisation Capability for the Railway Engineering Simulator

The intent of this project is to develop a 3D Visualisation Tool for Transport for London’s Railway Engineering Simulator (RES).

RES is Transport for London’s in-house multi train simulator. RES produces output data in text files which are used in complex calculations that contribute to engineering decisions. Alongside this data RES also has a built-in 2D visualisation capability (the ‘schematic view’). However, there is a need to improve the impact of this and to enable a sophisticated 3D visualisation of the RES output.

The principal benefit will be improved (faster, more understandable, greater impact) communication of performance analysis findings to key decision makers and stakeholders.

The Railway Engineering Simulator

The RES is Transport for London’s (TfL) in-house multi-train simulator. This is an existing tool developed by TfL, used to predict railway performance. It does this by modelling the engineering details governing the interaction between multiple trains, various signalling systems, power distribution and passenger flows on complex networks.

RES inputs are in the form of text files.

RES outputs are also text files which are fed into complex calculations that contribute to engineering decisions. Alongside this data RES also has a built-in 2D visualisation capability (the ‘schematic view’). However, there is a need to improve the impact of this and to enable a sophisticated 3D visualisation of the RES output.

This project is not intended to change or develop RES in any way. Instead it will take the input text files, which are also used by RES, to build a 3D world. It will then take the output reports, produced by RES, to move trains and change signal and point states within this 3D world.

Additional information: Additional appendices containing sample data etc can be made available upon request to christopher.carroll@tfl.gov.uk