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Railway Simulation


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Contents

News

Date: News:
January 2024 OpenTrack is ready for Apple Silicon, the new generation of ARM based CPU's developed by Apple. The new Mac Pro Version of OpenTrack is designed to run natively on Apple Silicon (e.g. on M2 Pro, M3 Max, etc.).

Events

Date: Location: Event:
Janurary 16 - 18, 2024 Sydney (Australia) OpenTrack Training Course
September 24 - 27, 2024 Berlin (Germany) InnoTrans 2024 - International Trade Fair for Transport Technology

The last OpenTrack user workshop was held in Zurich from the 12 to 14 September 2019 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich, ETHZ). In the user workshop section of this page you will find all the presentations.


Introduction

OpenTrack began in the mid-1990s as a research project at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. The aim of the project Object-Oriented Modeling in Railways, was to develop a catalyst for practical economic solutions to complex railway technology problems.

Today, the railway simulation tool OpenTrack is a well-established railway planning software and it is used by railways, the railway supply industry, consultancies and universities in different countries.

OpenTrack allows to model, simulate and analyze the following types of rail systems:


OpenTrack supports the following kinds of tasks:


Data

Network data

OpenTrack describes a railway network in special graphs called double vertex graphs. A user can edit the network’s topology graphically. Every element of the graph holds various attributes. An edge, for example, holds its length, the gradient, the maximum speed for different train categories and much more. A user can create and manage objects for edges and vertices, and also signals, switches, stations and routes. The following figure shows part of a topology.



Example of a station (Olten, Switzerland). This graphic is also available as a PDF document.

Rolling stock data

OpenTrack stores each locomotive’s technical characteristics, including tractive effort/speed diagrams, load, length, adhesion factor, and power systems. A database organizes locomotives into groups called depots. A simulated train uses one or more locomotives from a depot together with a number of passenger or freight cars (carriages or wagons). Trainsets are also organized in a database.


Timetable data

The timetable database stores information for each train at each station, including arrival and departure times, minimal stop time, and connections to other trains.

The user can edit the timetable data either in textual form (left window) or directly within the train graph by using the mouse (right window) (See also: video section).

A user can compare timetable and actual data either in a table or directly in the train graphic.

Interfaces

OpenTrack offers interfaces to general data formats (such as ASCII and XML) and to some railway-specific formats (including FBS, Protim, Simu VII and others).

OpenTrack also supports railML, the XML-based standard format for the exchange of railway data. Download the railML product sheet (PDF-File, 800 kB).

Timetable data
Import
Export
railML (Versions 1.0 and 2.2)
X
X
ASCII
X
MS Excel
X
X
OpenTrack ASCII
X
X
OpenTrack XML
X
X
Viriato (via railML)
X
X
FBS (via railML)
X
X
OpenTimeTable (via railML)
X
X
Simu VII (IBS GmbH)
X
UK Planning Inferface Format (.PIF-Format, Protim)
X
SimWalk (via railML)
X
X


Infrastructure data
Import
Export
railML (Versions 1.0 and 2.2)
X
ASCII
X
MS Excel
X
X
Google Earth (station data)
X
OpenTrack ASCII
X
X
SBB ZLR
X
X
Siemens Infrastructure Format
X
ETC Infrastructure Format
X
SIMON (ÅF-Industriteknik)
X
Infraspeed Infrastructure Format
X
Bentley Rail Track
X


Rolling stock data (tractive effort/speed diagrams)
Import
Export
railML (Versions 1.0 and 2.2)
X
X
OpenTrack ASCII
X
X
SimWalk (via railML)
X

Simulation

The following figure shows how the simulation tool works. Predefined trains run according to the timetable on a railway network. During the simulation, OpenTrack calculates train movements under the constraints of the signaling system and timetable. After a simulation run, OpenTrack can analyze and display the resulting data in the form of diagrams, train graphs, occupation diagrams and statistics.

OpenTrack handles single simulation runs as well as multiple simulation runs where random generators produce different initial delays and station delays.

Animation of the simulation


Screenshot of OpenTrack during the simulation. The video can be downloaded.




The modules of the simulation (this graphic is also available as a PDF document)

During the simulation, trains try to obey the given timetable. The differential equations for speed and distance are the basis for calculating a train’s movement. The signaling system of the railway network poses constraints. Occupied tracks and restrictive signal aspects may impede a train’s progress.

During the simulation, every train continuously stores its speed, acceleration, position, power consumption and other data. This data can be evaluated after the simulation.

The user can watch the simulation in an animation mode, which shows the trains running and lets the user analyze occupied tracks, reserved tracks and signal aspects..


Headway Calculator / Headway Calculation

Based on a number of input parameters, the headway calculator computes the minimum headway between two trains and is able to identify the critical block section. The two trains may vary in type (e.g. intercity, commuter, freight, etc.), route and stopping pattern. The headway calculation works for fixed block (discrete block), moving block and CBTC systems.




This graphic is also available as a PDF document.

Output data

After a simulation, OpenTrack offers a number of evaluations. Evaluations of a train, line or station are possible. For a train, OpenTrack offers diagrams such as acceleration vs. distance, speed vs. distance, and obstructions. For a line, there are evaluations in the form of diagrams of train movements, route occupation and line profiles. Every station produces output about all the trains that used it, including arrival, stopping and departure times.

The user can view output data in a diagram, or export or evaluate it in a readable ASCII table.


The OpenTrack application

The OpenTrack application is available for the following operating systems: Windows 7 (32 and 64 Bit), Windows 8 (32 and 64 Bit), Windows 10 (32 and 64 Bit), Windows 11 (64 Bit) and macOS (64 Bit).

The application is available in two versions. The full version of OpenTrack offers an unlimited number of running trains per simulation. The limit of the OpenTrack Light version is two trains per simulation.


Screenshots

The following images are examples of the graphical user interface of OpenTrack for different Windows versions and MacOSX.

Windows 8 Windows XP MacOS X

Outputs

OpenTrack produces a number of outputs in text and/or graphic form.



Train graph (offline and online visualization). This graphic is also available as a PDF document.




Speed/distance diagram




Distance/time diagram




Power and energy output (red:Power in, blue: mech. Power, green: energy/distance-diagram)




Occupation diagram




Occupation statistics (example: peak hour occupation percentage). This output is available as a PDF document.




Delay statistics




A user can obtain every output in the form of ASCII text, for import into Microsoft Excel for example.




OpenTimeTable is able to visualize and analyze the outputs of multiple OpenTrack simulation runs.


OpenTrack API

OpenTrack offers an application programming interface (API) to connect other applications with OpenTrack. The other application can send standardized commands to OpenTrack and gets defined status messages back from OpenTrack. Technically, SOAP-Messages are exchanged via HTTP (SOAP over HTTP).





Possible applications:


A presentation of the OpenTrack API allows a better insight into the functionality of the API. (Download of the presentation - PDF, 2.9 MB). For further information on the OpenTrack API, please contact us or visit the OpenTrack API page.


Partners and customers


In the OpenTrack project, our company and the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems of the ETH Zürich co-operate with a number of partners from railway companies, the railway supply industry, consultancies and universities. The following companies and institutions use OpenTrack:

Railway operators and railway administrations

Swiss Federal Railways, Switzerland since 1999
REFER E.P., Rede Nacional Ferroviaria (National Railway Network), Portuga since 2000
Rhaetian Railways, Chur, Switzerland since 2002
TransAdelaide, Australia since 2002
German Railways, Germany since 2002
Finnish Rail Administration (RHK), Finland since 2004
V/Line, Australia since 2004
Ferrovie Nord Milano, Italy since 2004
Northern Ireland Railways, UK since 2005
BLS Loetschbergbahn AG, Switzerland since 2005
ProRail, The Netherlands since 2005
Circumvesuviana, Italy since 2005
KiwiRail - New Zealand Railways Corporation, New Zealand since 2008
NSB, Norway since 2009
Ferrovie Nord Barese, Italy since 2009
Jernbanedirektoratet (Norwegian Railway Directorate, former Jernbaneverket), Norway since 2009
SZDC (Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration), Czech Republic since 2009
Ferrovie del Sud Est, Italy since 2009
SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français), France since 2009
Ferrovie del Gargano, Italy since 2009
Victoria - Department of Transport, Australia since 2010
FAL - Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, Italy since 2010
FCU - Ferrovie Centrale Umbria, Italy since 2010
ADIFSE - Administración de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias, Argentina since 2010
RFI - Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italy since 2010
Regione Umbria, Italy since 2011
Ferrovie Emilia Romagna, Italy since 2011
Queensland Rail, Australia since 2012
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), Spain since 2013
Auckland Transport, New Zealand since 2014
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation, Taiwan since 2014
Saudi Railway Company, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 2014
CPTM, Brazil since 2014
Sitarail, Ivory Coast since 2014
PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe, Poland since 2014
Aurizon, Australia since 2015
Public Transport Authority (PTA), Australia since 2016
SNCF - Innovation & Research, France since 2016
NS - Nederlandse Spoorwegen, The Netherlands since 2016
Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC), Ethiopia since 2016
KTMB, Malaysia since 2017
Grupo EFE, Chile since 2017
Željeznice Republike Srpske (ŽRS), Bosnia and Herzegowina since 2017
Metrolinx, Canada since 2017
First Rail, UK since 2017
Bangkok Airport Rail Link (ARL), Thailand since 2017
SETRAG, Gabon since 2018
Ferrocarriles del Sur (FESUR), Chile since 2018
Empresa de Planejamento e Logística (EPL), Brazil since 2018
AATE, Peru since 2019
Sri Lanka Railways, Sri Lanka since 2019
National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), India since 2019
VR Group, Finland since 2019
Arriva, The Netherlands since 2019
NHSRCL, India since 2020
NAH.SH, Germany since 2020
Ontario - Ministry of Transportation, Canada since 2021
Zillertalbahn, Austria since 2021
Salzburger Lokalbahn, Austria since 2021
Operail, Estonia since 2021
Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), Indonesia since 2023

Metro and tram operators

De Lijn, Belgium since 2007
Metro Santiago, Chile since 2008
TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester), UK since 2009
RATP (Régie autonome des transports Parisiens), Paris, France since 2009
Guangzhou Metro, China since 2010
Shenzhen Metro, China since 2011
MetroRio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since 2012
Transport for London, UK since 2013
Beijing Subway, Beijing, China since 2013
Macau LRT, Macau since 2014
Move São Paulo, Brazil since 2014
Metro de Lima, Peru since 2014
Sporveien Oslo, Norway since 2014
MTR Corporation, Hong Kong since 2014
Seoul Metro, Korea since 2015
Metro de Medellín, Colombia since 2016
Helsinki Region Transport - HSL, Finland since 2016
Land Transport Authority - LTA, Singapore since 2016
ATM, Milano, Italy since 2017
RET, Rotterdam, The Netherlands since 2017
Bangkok Expressway and Metro (BEM), Thailand since 2017
SMRT Corporation Ltd, Singapore since 2018
Hamburger Hochbahn, Germany since 2018
Metroselskabet and Hovedstadens Letbane , Denmark since 2018
Metropolitano de Tenerife, La Laguna – Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain since 2018
Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, Thailand since 2019
Stadtwerke München, Germany since 2020
Metro São Paulo, Brazil since 2021
City of Edmonton, Canada since 2021
Transdev, Brazil since 2022
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, USA since 2022
Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main (VGF), Germany since 2022
NTA Tel Aviv, Israel since 2023
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), Toronto, Canada since 2023
traffiQ, Frankfurt, Germany since 2023

Railway supply industry / mining industry

Siemens AG, Switzerland / Germany / Australia since 1999
Infraspeed, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands since 2002
Bombardier Transportation , Pittsburgh, USA / Stockholm, Sweden / Derby, UK since 2006
Consorzio TAT, Bodio, Switzerland and Implenia AG, Lucerne, Switzerland since 2007
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, Perth, Australia since 2010
Vale, Maputo, Mozambique since 2011
Hyundai Rotem, Seoul, Korea since 2011
Alstom Transport, Italy / France / Belgium / Spain / Canada / Australia since 2012
ABB - Asea Brown Boweri S.A., Spain / Brazil since 2012
Posco Engineering Co. Ltd., Seongnam-city, Korea since 2013
Thales, Parço de Arcos, Portugal / Ballerup, Denmark since 2013
ICONTROLS, Seongnam-Si, Korea since 2014
Toshiba Corporation, Kawasaki, Japan since 2014
Hitachi Ltd., R&D, Yokohama, Japan since 2015
PSI Transcom, Berlin, Germany since 2016
Shinwoo ENG Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea since 2016
DAEATI Co., Ltd., Gyeonggi-Do, Korea since 2016
Meidensha Corporation, Tokyo, Japan since 2016
CRRC Corporation Limited, Beijing, China since 2016
BHP Billiton, Australia since 2017
Len Railway Systems, Bandung, Indonesia since 2018
Downer Group, Australia since 2020
UK Power Networks, UK since 2023
Stadler AG, Switzerland since 2023

Consultancies

SMA und Partner AG, Zurich, Switzerland since 1999
ETC Transport Consultants GmbH, Berlin, Germany since 1999
Pöyry Infra AG, Zurich, Switzerland since 1999
REFER Engineering, Lisbon, Portugal since 2000
EBP, Zurich, Switzerland since 2001
NET engineering, Monselice, Italy since 2001
Institut für Bahntechnik (Inst. for Railway Engineering), Dresden, Germany since 2001
Plateway Pty Ltd, Sydney / Brisbane, Australia since 2001
Movares Nederland, Utrecht, The Netherlands since 2003
SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit, Derby, UK / Sydney, Australia / Vancouver, Canada since 2004
Tyréns AB, Kristianstad, Sweden since 2005
COWI, Lyngby, Denmark / Oslo, Norway / Wroclaw, Poland since 2005
Royal HaskoningDHV, Amersfoort, The Netherlands since 2005
Egis Rail, France / Serbia since 2006
TTK - TransportTechnologie-Consult Karlsruhe GmbH , Karlsruhe, Germany since 2007
Norconsult AS, Sandvika, Norway since 2007
Laboratorio di Ingegneria Ferroviaria e Traffico, Trieste, Italy since 2008
IBV Hüsler AG, Zurich, Switzerland since 2008
TPS Transport Planning Service, Perugia, Italy since 2008
Booz Allen Hamilton, Newark NJ, USA since 2008
Geodata SpA, Torino, Italy since 2008
Ramboll, Stockholm, Sweden / Espoo, Finland / Virum and Fredericia, Denmark / Karlsruhe, Germany since 2008
Worley Australia, Sydney / Perth, Australia since 2008
Emch + Berger AG, Berne, Switzerland since 2009
Aurecon, Brisbane, Australia since 2009
RINA Consulting (formerly D'Appolonia), Genova, Italy since 2009
DB International, Berlin, Germany since 2009
SIYUAN (China Railway Siyuan Survey And Design Group Co.), Wuhan, China since 2009
Italferr, Rome, Italy since 2009
Calibre Rail, Perth / Brisbane, Australia since 2009
ILF - Consulting Engineers, Zurich, Switzerland since 2010
TSD Consulting Services, Randburg, South Africa since 2010
Rail Systems Engineering Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia since 2010
Millennia Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, USA since 2010
JG Afrika, Cape Town, South Africa since 2011
Aurecon, Pretoria, South Africa since 2011
WSP, Australia / Hong Kong / USA / Canada / Finland / UK since 2011
Főrmterv, Budapest, Hungary since 2011
SYSTRA, Paris, France / Sydney, Australia since 2011
The Third Railway Survey and Design Institute, Tianjin, China since 2011
The China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd., Chengdu, China since 2011
CH2M, Parsippany NJ, USA since 2011
SIGNON, Berlin, Germany since 2012
Vecturis, Brussels, Belgium since 2012
Ingérop, Courbevoie, France / Madrid, Spain since 2012
Valbek SK, spol. s.r.o., Bratislava, Slovakia since 2012
Engenicom, Maitland NSW, Australia since 2012
Setec Ferroviaire and Setec its, Paris, France since 2012
Parsons, Markham Ontario, Canada since 2013
Yapi Merkezi Insaat, Istanbul, Turkey since 2013
taktici.cz, s.r.o., Praha, Czech Republic since 2013
SENER, Spain since 2013
Hatch, Canada / South Africa since 2013
Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan since 2013
China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co., Beijing, China since 2014
Aarvee Associates, Hyderabad, India since 2014
Sintra, Mexico City, Mexico since 2014
Beijing Urban Construction & Development Group Co., Beijing, China since 2014
Paragon Tecnologia Ltda, São Paulo, Brazil since 2014
TRENECON COWI, Budapest, Hungary since 2014
BBF Sp. z o.o., Poznań, Poland since 2014
Beijing Rail and Transit Design and Research Institute, Beijing, China since 2014
Sweco, Stockholm, Sweden / Helsinki, Finland since 2014
Instytut Kolejnictwa, Warsaw, Poland since 2014
Raul V. Bravo + Associates, Inc., Reston VA, USA since 2014
WYG Consulting, Warsaw, Poland since 2014
Idom, Madrid, Spain since 2015
AECOM, Melbourne, Australia / Mississauga, Canada since 2015
TRENOLab, Trieste, Italy since 2016
Tractebel Engie, Brussels, Belgium since 2016
Mott MacDonald, Pleasanton, USA since 2016
Mota-Engil, Linda-a-Velha, Portugal since 2017
SUDOP BRNO, Brno, Czech Republic since 2017
RSE (Rail Solution Engineering) Co. Ltd., Seoul, Korea since 2017
VTD Rail Consulting, Mountlake Terrace WA, USA since 2017
Gannett Fleming, Toronto, Canada since 2017
Signalplan AG, Trimbach, Switzerland since 2017
Ricardo Rail, Seoul, Korea / Sydney, Australia since 2017
Korea Railroad Research Institute, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea since 2017
CECI Engineering Consultants, Taipei City, Taiwan since 2017
MC Mobility Consultants, Vienna, Austria since 2018
SETIRAIL, Algiers, Algeria since 2018
RING Engineering, Budapest, Hungary since 2018
Sharma & Associates, Inc., Countryside IL, USA since 2018
Arup, London, UK / Hong Kong / Toronto, Canada since 2018
RailTerm, Mississauga, Canada since 2018
Dopravní projektování, Moravská Ostrava, Czech Republic since 2018
Seowoo Construction Industry, Korea since 2019
DOHWA Engineering Co., Ltd., Korea since 2019
Aselsan, Turkey since 2019
MHPM Company Ltd, Thailand since 2019
HDR, USA / Canada since 2019
HNTB Corporation, USA since 2019
TRN TARYET, Spain since 2019
Minconsult, Malaysia since 2020
Jacobs, Malaysia since 2020
Baicons, Romania since 2020
Australis Rail Consulting, Australia since 2020
KSP Consulting, New Zealand since 2020
Sagasta, Czech Republic since 2020
Kiewit, USA since 2020
Oriental Consultants Global Co., Ltd., Japan since 2020
Beijing Municipal Engineering Research Institute, Beijing, China since 2021
FLOU, Helsinki, Finland since 2021
Moravia Consult Olomouc (MCO), Czech Republic since 2022
EXprojekt, Czech Republic since 2022
ONxpress, Canada since 2023
Network Rail Consulting, UK since 2023
Eurotransproject, Bulgaria since 2023

Universities and research institutes

ETH Zürich, Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT), Zurich, Switzerland since 1999
Laboratory for Intermodality, Transport, and Planning - LITEP, ETH Lausanne, Switzerland since 1999
University of Sheffield, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Sheffield, UK since 2001
Fraunhofer Institut für Verkehrs- und Infrastruktursysteme IVI (Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems), Dresden, Germany since 2001
Technical University of Vienna, Institut für Eisenbahnwesen, Verkehrswirtschaft und Seilbahnen (Institute for Railway Engineering, Traffic Economics and Ropeways), Vienna, Austria since 2002
German Aerospace Center, Institute of Transportation Systems (Institut für Verkehrssystemtechnik), Brunswick and Berlin, Germany since 2002
TU Brunswick, Institute of Railway Systems Engineering and Traffic Safety, Brunswick, Germany since 2003
Czech Technical University, Faculty of Transportation Science, Prague, Czech Republic since 2003
University of Trieste, Department of Civil Engineering, Trieste, Italy since 2004
Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany since 2004
Instituto Superior Técnico, Grupo de Transportes - DECivil, Lisbon, Portugal since 2005
TU Delft, Department Transport and Planning, Delft, The Netherlands since 2006
TU Dresden, Institut für Verkehrssystemtechnik, Dresden, Germany since 2006
University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic since 2006
China Academy of Railway Sciences (CARS), Beijing, China since 2006
Hanyang University - Dept. of Transportation Engineering, Asnan, Korea since 2006
Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China since 2007
TU Berlin, Section of Electric Railway Systems, Berlin, Germany since 2008
Tongji University, Shanghai, China since 2008
Nanjing University, Nanjing, China since 2008
TU Dresden, Institut für Bahnfahrzeuge und Bahntechnik, Dresden, Germany since 2008
Universita' di Roma "La Sapienza", Dipartimento di Idraulica,Trasporti e Strade, Roma, Italy since 2008
Universidad de Zaragoza, GITEL, Grupo de Investigación en Transporte y Logística, Zaragoza, Spain since 2008
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Ljubljana, Slowenia since 2009
Shijiazhuang Railway Institute, Shijiazhuang, China since 2009
IFSTTAR - Institut français des sciences et technologies des transports, de l'aménagement et des réseaux, Bron, France since 2009
University of Naples - Federico II, Naples, Italy since 2009
The Institute of Transportation CIP, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia since 2009
Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China since 2009
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Panama, Panama since 2009
Széchenyi István University, Györ, Hungary since 2010
Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento DITIC - Trasporti, Torino, Italy since 2010
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway since 2010
Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education, Birmingham, UK since 2011
ZHAW - Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, Winterthur, Switzerland since 2011
Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy since 2011
Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, China since 2011
Beijing Union University, Beijing, China since 2011
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia since 2012
Michigan Tech. University, Rail Transportation Program, Houghton, USA since 2012
Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China since 2012
University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia since 2013
Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Department of Control for Transportation and Vehicle Systems, Budapest, Hungary since 2013
University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany since 2013
Newcastle University, Newrail, Newcastle, UK since 2014
KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden since 2014
FH Joanneum - University of Applied Sciences, Energy & Transport Management, Kapfenberg, Austria since 2014
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, Belgrade, Serbia since 2014
University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Maribor, Slovenia since 2014
Gdansk University of Technology, Gdańsk, Poland since 2015
Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, Spain since 2015
Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China since 2015
University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Toronto, Canada since 2015
St. Poelten University of Applied Sciences, St. Poelten, Austria since 2015
Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain since 2015
Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand since 2015
Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS, Sankt Augustin, Germany since 2015
University of Žilina, Žilina, Slovakia since 2015
University of Stuttgart - Institute of Railway and Transportation Engineering, Stuttgart, Germany since 2015
Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, China since 2016
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany since 2016
Technical University of Denmark - DTU, Department of Transport, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark since 2016
Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian, China since 2016
Korea National University of Transportation, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea since 2016
Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, China since 2016
Lanzhou Jiaotong University (LZJTU), Lanzhou, China since 2016
Ecole Centrale de Lille, Lille, France since 2017
FH Campus Wien, Vienna, Austria since 2018
Fundación para el Fomento de la Innovación Industrial (F2I2), Madrid, Spain since 2018
Jiangsu University, Jiangsu Sheng, China since 2018
Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic since 2018
AIT - Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria since 2019
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia since 2019
Western New England University (WNE), Springfield, USA since 2019
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Singapore since 2019
Technische Hochschule Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany since 2019
Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland since 2019
ROSAS Center Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland since 2020
University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia since 2020
Transport Research Center (CDV), Brno, Czech Republic since 2020
Beijing Vocational Tansportation College (BJJT), Beijing, China since 2020
University of Bristol, Bristol, UK since 2020
University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), Johannesburg, South Africa since 2020
Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand since 2020
Academy of Logistics and Transport (ALT), Almaty, Kazakhstan since 2022
Shanghai Institute of Technology (SIT), China since 2022
Politecnico di Bari, Italy since 2023
The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), The Hague, The Netherlands since 2024

Documents / downloads

PDF files related to OpenTrack


Article in the journal "Güterbahnen" (Freight Railways)

Issue 2/2003 of the journal Güterbahnen included the article Ermittlung und Leistungsfähigkeit einer Werkbahn mit OpenTrack (Investigations on the Capacity of an Industrial Railway with OpenTrack). We would be pleased to send you a free copy of the article.

Railway Gazette 04/2006

In issue April 2006 of the journal Railway Gazette the authors T. Salt and K. Mears from Interfleet Technlology published an article "Automation gets the most out of mining railway infrastructure". We would be pleased to send you a free copy of the article.

Australian Government: North-South Rail Corridor Study

The North-South Rail Corridor Study (where OpenTrack was used as one of the tools) has comprehensively examined the adequacy, given the current major infrastructure investment programme, of the existing Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane rail corridor to meet future freight demand.The study examined different options, including possible enhancements to the coastal line, as well as alternative inland routes. Key issues included infrastructure links, engineering, environmental, urban and regional planning issues. A financial and economic analysis was also undertaken on each of the route options.

Railway Gazette 07/2008

Sharing tracks in Sydney is the title of an article published in the Railway Gazette 07/2008 by Ian Imrie from Plateway. The article describes the complexity of sharing tracks between freight and passenger trains in the Sydney area.

Supporting the study, the two Swiss Tools Viriato and OpenTrack were used with success.

Presentation to RTSA Wellington (NZ)

The company Plateway from Clyde, Australia gave a presentation about OpenTrack and simulation tools in general in June 2012 to RTSA in Wellington.

Report in the journal Logistyka

In 2014, the journal Logistyka published an article about the railway simulation using OpenTrack. The report can be downloaded as a PDF file.

The Art of creating a Timetable


Swiss Railways (SBB) published a paper paper named How the timetable is born - From initial studies to the daily timetable. It describes the role of OpenTrack in the timetable planning process of SBB. The paper can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Presentation at the 1st European Rail Simulation Technlolgy Forum


David Koopman from Royal HaskoningDHV (The Netherlands) gave a presentation about OpenTrack in November 2016 at the 1st European Rail Simulation Technlolgy Forum in Amsterdam. The presentation can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Metro Report 12/2016

Eric Cosandey and Pascal Joris published the aricle Using simulation to predict the impact of upgrades in the 12/2016 issue of the publication Metro Report.

University of Toronto:Capacity Analysis of a Complex Railway Station Using Integrated Crowd and Transit Simulation: A Case Study of Toronto’s Union Station

Yishu (Roy) Pu presented his MASc thesis as part of the UT-ITE Seminar Series on September 8, 2017. Yishu Pu kindly shared a PDF of his presentation file here: Capacity Analysis of the Union Station Rail Corridor Using Integrated Rail and Pedestrian Simulation.

Usage of the Headway Calculator


In the April 2020 issue of the magazine “Signalling + Datacommunication” the article (PDF) “Headways in ETCS Levels 2 and 3 on the main urban railway line in Vienna” has been published. For the calculation of headways the Headway Calculator of OpenTrack has been applied.

OpenPowerNet - Simulation of Railway Power Supply Systems

Presentation about the Simulation of Railway Power Supply Systems (Co-Simulation of OpenPowerNet with OpenTrack) (PDF, 2.7 MB, Download).


Two screenshots from the OpenPowerNet project for Zurich (simulation of tram system Zurich) after the postprocessing of the OpenTrack output data to Google Earth. © 2008 by IfB.

OpenPowerNet Video: Download (.mp4-Format)

More reports and presentations

You’ll find more reports on the use and development of OpenTrack in the German section of our web page and more presentations (in English) in our user workshop section.


OpenTrack Videos




The following links require Apple Quicktime Player or Windows Media Player. Otherwise the the videos can be watched on YouTube.



Watch all the OpenTrack-Videos on YouTube.


OpenTrack on LinkedIn

Follow us on LinkedIn:



OpenTrack Railway Technology Ltd. on LinkedIn
OpenTrack - Simulation of Railway Networks on LinkedIn


Further information

For further information on OpenTrack, please contact:

OpenTrack Railway Technology Ltd
Gubelstr. 28
CH - 8050 Zürich
Switzerland

Phone: + 41 - 44 - 310 19 90
Fax: + 41 - 86 - 044 310 19 90
E-Mail: info@opentrack.ch


OpenTrack web site

To the OpenTrack web site.