Levelling up Freight

Featured story30 November 2022

An RSSB innovation project that developed a new solution for making last-minute changes to freight paths so they are smoother and more efficient has gone on to win First of a Kind (FOAK) funding.

PathPlanner, is one of three projects that has been awarded funding through RSSB’S Dynamic Train Planning Innovation competition in 2020. The solution, which was developed by 3Squared, supports the Very Short Term Planning (VSTP) needs of freight operators by analysing schedule utilisation to identify likely unused paths on the network, and improving the way that requests are handled. It was successfully piloted with Rail Operations Group, Freightliner and Network Rail, and the project team actively engaged with the wider freight operator community.

The project went on to secure funding as part of Department for Transport (DfT) 2021 Transport Research Innovation Grants (TRIG) Programme. More recently it has secured a FOAK award of £392,271 from DfT and Innovate UK to help bring the technology to the rail market.

“RSSB is proud to have supported PathPlanner’s initial development and is delighted to see it go from strength-to-strength with the announcement of this FOAK award. Research and innovation projects need to generate real traction to sustain momentum through to implementation and commercialisation. The 3Squared team has shown a truly impressive commitment to industry engagement and delivering a solution that addresses the freight sector’s needs.”

Michael Carmichael, Professional Lead Operations and Performance, Research and Development, RSSB

This is helping 3Squared make PathPlanner even more relevant to industry’s current needs. Through a proof-of-concept solution at Southampton Docks, the country’s second-busiest container port, the funding will be used to provide insight into understanding the capacity in and out of the docks. This will facilitate Solent Stevedores and Eddie Stobart Logistics, who are both project partners working with 3Squared to find additional freight paths and transfer containers.

The freight planning solution can provide a huge opportunity for the rail freight sector and contribute almost £2.5bn to the economy. Rail is more sustainable than road, with statistics stating that for every tonne of freight transported by rail, 76% less emissions are produced compared to road (RDG ‘Levelling Up Britain 2021’). PathPlanner’s proof of concept solution at Southampton Docks forecasts significant gains. Seven extra trains equate to:

£12.6m additional revenue per annum
a reduction of 55,000 HGVs from the road
a CO₂ reduction of 1,165 tonnes. To put this into context this would be the equivalent of charging 141,714 smart phones or flying from London to Pittsburg.

“It is a landmark moment for 3Squared to be recognised in the First of a Kind (FOAK) competition. We have worked hard since 2020 to develop PathPlanner, an innovative software solution that we hope will transform the rail freight sector, and this funding from the Department of Transport and Innovate UK will enable us to take the project’s development even further. We firmly believe that PathPlanner will support the much-needed modal shift from road to rail, reaping a range of benefits for our industry for many years to come.”

Jason Durk, Principal Consultant for 3Squared

Find out more

Learn about the project: Dynamic Freight Capacity Management (I01-CLR-04)

Listen to our podcast on the importance of rail freight and how to increase capacity: Making Freight More Efficient—The Path Planner Tool

Haven’t found what you’re looking for?

Get in touch with our expert for more information.

Customer Portal

https://customer-portal.rssb.co.uk