Digital Railways: how new innovations can change the approach to rail infrastructure planning A research on the digital alternative to rail infrastructure expansion L.P.J. van der Hoeven Master thesis Spatial Planning Specialisation Urban and Regional Mobility Nijmegen School of Management - Radboud University Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management June 2020 Colophon Digital Railways: how new innovations anc change t he approach to rail infrastructure planning A research on the digital alternative to rail infrastructure expansion Image cover Utrecht Centraal (© Lucas van der Hoeven) Master thesis June 2020 Radboud University Master Spatial Planning, Urban and Regional Mobility Supervisor Supervisor Radboud University: Dr. F. Verhees Supervisors internship Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management: Geert Buijs & Hugo Thomassen Second reader: Prof. dr. A. Lagendijk Author L.P.J. (Lucas) van der Hoeven Key concepts Digital Rail, Digital Railways, Rail Infrastructure, Dutch Rail Planning, Spatial Planning, Infrastructural Planning, Regional Competitiveness 2 Abstract Rail is an important means of transport for providing the opportunity for people to travel. Everyday about half a million people travel by train in the Netherlands. These travel movements are linked to the regional competitiveness of cities and regions. Therefore, the increase of the capacity of the interregional rail connections is often emphasised in policies. One of the current trends in the rail sector in order to reach this intensification of rail connections is the increasing use of digital solutions in the railways. Doing so is often referred to as the transition from analogue to “Digital Rail”. Therefore, this research aims for defining the concept of Digital Rail and examines the conditions in which the concept of Digital Rail can be a realistic alternative to part of the investments needed for the construction of new rail infrastructure and in what way cooperation with public and private parties play a role in this regard. This research indicates that there are several advantages and disadvantages to the implementation of the concept of Digital Rail. and that the concept of Digital Rail can be a realistic alternative to part of the investments needed for the construction of new rail infrastructure if four essential conditions are met. If these conditions are met a proper consideration can be made between physical expansion of the rail network and the implementation of Digital Rail. This research indicates that the concept of Digital Rail provides a viable alternative, however, the capacity it generates is in the end linked to the physical capabilities of the rail network. 3 Preface This master thesis is the result of nine months of dedicated research within the world of digitalisation and rail. The thesis is written to complete the master Spatial Planning at the Radboud University in which I followed the specialisation Urban and Regional Mobility. This thesis started with a big passion for rail and the ongoing question whether there is an opportunity to gain more capacity on the railroads in the Netherlands. Having to travel between Hoofddorp, Utrecht, Nijmegen and The Hague myself for around five years by train, you start to wonder how it is even possible to accommodate the predicted growth for the coming years in such a complex, yet very comfortable means of transport. Since physically expanding the rail network is not only costly but also very hard seen the limited space available in the Netherlands for such expansion, the question shifted to look into alternative means to still achieve capacity growth, but with the current infrastructural means. Since the agglomeration power and economic performance benefits from good connections, rail has an important place in providing so. An ever increasing demand for capacity is therefore an always returning question, especially in how to provide this. Therefore, this thesis aims for a first step towards conceptualising the use of digitalisation in rail and looks into the conditions to which this concept of Digital Rail can be an alternative to part of the investments needed for physical rail infrastructure. In addition, this research also looks into the public and private actors which are needed to conceptualise, use and implement such concept. This thesis has been a very special and educational journey for me. From a start as a student in the subject of spatial planning all the way into the technical details of the rail system. It took some time and a lot of effort to understand all the technical aspects of the rail system but it has definitely been rewarding. However, without the help, guidance and support of a number of people, this thesis would have never been possible. Therefore, I want to take the time to thank a number peope. First, I want to thank all the participants throughout Europe who were willing to make time for me and share their expertise, knowledge and opinions on the subject of Digital Rail. I have enjoyed the very informative and interesting interviews and the trips (by train!) to come and visit you. Furthermore, I want to thank the colleagues at ProRail who have been thinking along in my quest to conceptualise the concept of Digital Rail. In particular I want to mention Frank Bokhorst and Michiel Vijverberg and thank them for their advice and input. Also, a special word of thanks to my ERTMS colleagues from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management who have supported me, provided feedback on my thesis multiple times and made my internship a nice experience. Furthermore, a word of thanks to my colleague interns who supported me in the last couple of months with lots of coffee and fun, motivating me to finish up this thesis and making the internship a very joyful experience. Addittionaly, a word of thanks to my former colleagues from the Provincie of Noord-Holland who have been involved in the early stages of the research. I especially want to take the time to thank my supervisors. First, a word of thanks to Hugo Thomassen and Geert Buijs from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management for their excellent mentorship and supervision of my thesis during my internship at the Ministry. I am very grateful to have had your support, supervision and advices during the last couple of months and I have enjoyed our intersting conversations on topics related to rail, digital rail but also other subjects in our lives. Furthermore, a very grateful word of thanks to my supervisor from the Radboud University, Frits Verhees, who has been supervising my thesis from the very beginning. It has been a long journey but your ongoing supervision, guidance and help have been outstanding and crucial for finishing my thesis. I am going to miss the coffee meetups in Utrecht where we discussed the thesis, and life in general. My appreciation and gratitude to you for your help during all these months! Last but not least, my sincere thanks and gratitude go out to family, friends and my lovely girlfriend for their ongoing support and encouragement throughout the last couple of months. I could not have done this without all of you! Lucas van der Hoeven, June, 2020 4 Summary Rail is an important means of transport for providing the opportunity for people to travel. Everyday about half a million people travel by train in the Netherlands. These travel movements are linked to the regional competitiveness of cities and regions. The more people travel, the better the regional competitiveness gets. This increase of regional competitiveness is often aimed for in national policies to increase the agglomeration power of said region, thus increasing the economic performance. In this regard, it is often beneficial to provide more opportunities for people to travel between these regions, since attracting creative and innovative residents to regions influences the economic performance. These interregional connections are often facilitated by train. Therefore, the increase of the capacity of the interregional rail connections is often emphasised in policies. In order to do so, several programs are in effect in order to increase the rail capacity in the Netherlands such asProgramma Hoogfrequent Spoor (PHS) and Toekomstbeeld OV 2040 (TBOV 2040). However, given the fact that space is rather scarce in the Netherlands, the opportunities for physically expanding the rail network are limited. This calls for alternative solutions in order to increase the capacity of the Dutch railroads. One of the current trends in the rail sector in order to reach this intensification of rail connections is the increasing use of digital solutions in the railways. Doing so is often referred to as the transition from analogue to “Digital Rail”. Although concepts as digitalisation and Digital Rail are often mentioned in the rail sector, they remain relatively extensive and unknown within Dutch rail planning. In the European rail sector, Digital Rail is often referred to as a catch-all concept that includes multiple digital innovations such as, for example, ERTMS, Automatic Train Operation (ATO), smart timetables, smart infrastructure and trains and automatic disruption solutions. However, a clear unified definition for Digital Rail and a systematic approach to the concept is not yet defined. Also, an integral strategy for developing and implementing Digital Rail mostly lacks. This research aims for defining the concept of Digital Rail and examines the conditions in which the concept of Digital Rail can be a realistic alternative to part of the investments needed for the construction of new rail infrastructure and in what way cooperation with public and private parties play a role in this regard. Through a case study for the application of the concept of Digital Rail in the Netherlands insights are gained on the concept and its related benefits and challenges. This research finds that Digital Rail can be defined as “an intelligent transport solution (ITS) aiming for the digitalisation of the railways, therefore enabling organisations, goods and vehicles to be smarter, more efficient, more comfortable and safer”.