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Raymond Balck A.I.R.C.E

EB Signals Pty. Ltd.

For some types of information, people seem to prefer analog presentation compared to digital presentation. This is so particularly for data which needs fast decision making. Good examples are car speedometers which went from analog to digital presentation and back to analog again; wrist watches or other types of watches. I believe most of the people still use analog watches for showing the time. However when it comes to the date, month or other information the manufacturers may put on the watches, the digital information is the ruling one, even though sometimes dates etc. are shown analog. One of the reasons for our tendency to prefer analog presentation of the time may be inherited, the watch is a very old design and goes back to the sundial.

Another area where analog presentation seems to be the preferred one is when a comparison is needed, it is easier to visualise a difference or a conflict rather than to read the value of it. However, when an exact value needs to be specified, the digital readout is the governing one.

After this short introduction of different ways to present time, it is time to approach the subject for this presentation, Graphic Presentation of Timetables. Graphic presentation of the timetable for a train journey is probably as old as the railway itself. However, when centralised traffic control was introduced, it became one of the operator's tools to keep the train running on time, predict meeting points etc. In the beginning the operator recorded himself by penning the arriving and departure time. Later, different types of recording devices became available, relieving the operator the recording task although he still had to do the predictions of the future running of the train, where to organise meeting between trains, etc. The recording often took place on a paper pre-printed with the current timetable  in a graphic form.

Today, with the latest computer technology, the presentation of a train graph can be done on paper with laser printers orland on high resolution colour VDU's showing the "pre-printed" timetable, the actual (plotted) timetable and the predicted timetable.

Today's train graph recorder can not only record the actual arrival and departure time, it can also do the prediction of the future running of the train; it can produce the source for the printing of the timetable for the public and the employees; it can optimise the utilisation of the use of the track under different conditions such as delayed train, track work etc.; it can produce the best recourse utilisation of the fleet, it can predict power consumption and peak load for electric trains etc.