With the rapid progress and popularization of information technology in recent years, and due to the problems of energy and environmental pollution that are becoming increasingly serious, a drastic change of social structure is foreseen in the 21st century. Railway systems need to adapt itself to the social change in order to survive as an effective means of transportation in the future. Information technology could be a great threat to railways, but provides simultaneously a very effective tool for the improvement of railway systems. This report discusses such an imminent change and a method to utilize information technology for railway systems.

Copyright (c) 2001 Railway Technical Research Institute