KiwiRail CTMS & OMS

Container Terminal Management System (CTMS)

This system has evolved from a containerised booking system to a system that:

• Books containers and wagons.
• Manages the capacity of the related services and trains on which the cargo travels.
• Manages container terminals.
• Allows for automated business to business (B2B) operations such as creating and managing bookings.
• Contains a customer portal allowing customers to manage and inform KiwiRail of their cargo requirements.
• Visually allows KiwiRail staff to manage their wagons and place customer cargo onto the relevant wagons.
• Automatically computes the capacity available on trains and suggests the best way of getting the cargo to its destination.
• Allows the discharge and loading of trains as they transit throughout New Zealand.
• Manages remote handheld and other devices in the field. Communication to these devices is via a range of technologies including XML and JSON endpoints.
• Manages refrigerated cargo handling reporting and tracking of the refrigerated state.
• Generates a number of reports on operations allowing KiwiRail staff to manage their day to day operations.

This system is primarily a JEE (Java Enterprise Edition) application running in WebSphere. It does however encapsulate a number of other technologies such as:

• JSON endpoints.
• Web applications using a combination of JavaScript, FreeMarker templates with a Struts based back end.
• Amber, a thin Java client, is used to manage the internal client interface.
• BIRT reporting tools.
• Various JSP/JSTL based web pages.
• EJB Session Beans.
• JPA 2 data persistence framework.
• MQ messaging to and from a legacy train management system.
• DB2 database.

OnTrack Rail Operational Management System (OMS)

This system continues to manage speed restrictions but also tracks the trains themselves using GPS transponders located on the train locomotives with communication being handled via JSON interfaces. This understanding of the train characteristics/location has lead to OMS becoming one of the primary train tracking systems used inside KiwiRail. It also manages safety systems relating to protecting working parties that repair sections of the railway tracks. OMS integrates via IBM MQ with the KiwiRail AMICUS train management system receiving pending train consists and supplying a continuous understanding of the locations of the trains as they travel. The application is a Java Enterprise Edition application on a WebSphere application server. The primary client user interface uses Amber, a thin Java client.