Joining Transport for Wales Rail Limited and c2c Rail in the revolution to significantly improve performance and efficiency across its operations, CrossCountry has successfully implemented the Tracsis Information Manager (TIM) system.
A communications module of the revolutionary end-to-end resource planning and management system, TRACS Enterprise, TIM will enable CrossCountry to start using state-of-the-art messaging and communications features that are significantly more advanced than any current control log system in the UK.
Collaborating closely with the CrossCountry Control team, Tracsis launched TIM into the Control room just before Easter.
The ‘Go Live’ went smoothly and the tangible benefits that the TOC saw from the implementation were almost immediate. These included:
Increased consistency of data recording.
Time savings.
No outages or downtime when a new version is available.
Increased availability of accurate real-time information to the wider business.
Increased functionality that is tailored to UK rail operations, including:
User defined drop down lists providing log items with consistent wording, which enables users to find items more quickly and easily.
Headcodes that are automatically updated every day including any VSTP trains (rather than a manual process).
The ability to build your own templates with ease and customise the fields. Any changes are very easy to make, ensuring important information is captured.
The ability to create a PDF (to proofread, for example) is very easy and quick.
The ability for users to customise the way the Business Events List is displayed, saving time, and focusing management attention.
The ability to create a read only version for a Live Log ensuring sensitive information remains private.
Easy filtering to quickly view your own customised list of Business Events each day.
Ability to attach documents and photographs to tell a complete story.
The web-based nature of the TIM system and its roles/permissions model has opened up the Control Log to the business in a way that was not possible with the previous Log system, enabling more accurate information to flow right across the business in real time.
Innovative, cloud-hosted and specialised mobile technologies embodied by TRACS Enterprise are now readily available to the rail industry. Forward-thinking TOCs such as CrossCountry are recognising the need to move away from their legacy systems in order to maintain an outstanding level of service and unrivalled passenger experience.
David Slater, Head of Train Service Delivery at CrossCountry, commented:
"The team and I enjoyed working with Mike Holmes and his colleagues to roll out Tracsis Information Manager within the business on time and as planned. The system proved to be easily configurable and worked straight out of the box. Although early days, TIM has been exceptionally well received by the Control team and has proven to be a significant improvement in the way incidents are managed, logged and communicated. We are currently rolling out the use of TIM to all front line managers and the feedback received so far has been very positive in terms of both the overall presentation of data and the search and filtering functionality provided"
Mike Holmes, TIM Product Manager at Tracsis, said:
“Since we first made TIM available to the industry, the feedback from the CrossCountry Control team has been invaluable in driving improvements to meet the needs of the staff who use it, especially Dave Redbourne, Sarah Lea and Andy Garden. They have thought long and hard about how to ensure that they get the biggest benefits from the new functionality in TIM, as well as ensuring that everyone was trained and briefed across the business to ensure a smooth transition. It has been a pleasure working alongside them”
To learn more about the award-winning TRACS Enterprise, it’s modules and benefits, contact us at info@tracsis.com