FP6-FutuRe Customer Services group convenes in Lisbon to advance Customer Services solutions for Regional Rail

The FP6-FutuRe customer services area participants held a productive two-day meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. The gathering brought together dedicated experts and partners to review the progress of ongoing tasks and demonstrations, fostering an environment of collaborative problem-solving and strategic planning. Within the broader FP6 project, this area is instrumental in developing seamless door to door travel information systems for passengers aiming at a more attractive, efficient, and user-centric regional railway system. The team successfully reviewed development and demonstration progress, gathered crucial feedback on the developed journey planning application, and formulated questions for user feedback survey. These activities solidified plans for the concluding year of the project.

The Lisbon meeting provided a comprehensive overview of the key areas of development. Discussions centered on the implementation status of multimodal travel solutions designed to seamlessly integrate on-demand mobility, offering passengers more flexible and convenient travel options. Participants also reviewed the development and setup of systems for forecasting and managing short- and long-term travel demands. One of the developments focuses on real-time passenger information systems, synchronising information across different modes, ensuring travellers have access to timely and accurate updates. Further, a presentation of the TMS-PIS interface, highlighted how Traffic Management Systems (TMS) and Passenger Information Services (PIS) are being integrated to improve operational efficiency and communication between the two systems. The team explored innovative approaches to monitor and manage passenger congestion, aiming to reduce congestion and enhance comfort at stations and on trains, alongside optimized solutions for train platform allocation. Significant progress was reported on data management and standardisation.

The partners had an interactive brainstorming session dedicated to preparing user feedback questionnaires for the demonstration period scheduled in May-June 2026. This proactive approach ensures that the developed functionalities are rigorously evaluated from a user perspective, allowing for continuous improvement based on real-world experiences. Teams also provided valuable feedback on the functionalities developed so far.

The meeting concluded with a clear understanding of the next steps, including a review of the project timeline and upcoming deliverables in the last few months the project. The work the customer services area is paving the way for a more connected, efficient, and passenger-friendly regional railway system across Europe.