Operations preparation at the Zurich dispatching center

At the Zurich dispatching center, short-notice additions of extra trains (Dispozüge) to the schedule is the job of the Operations Preparation unit (betriebliche Anordnung).

OP normally plans extra movements between three and 72 hours in advance. For example, OP may receive, by e-mail or fax, a request for the movement of a train of gravel or petroleum products. For petroleum products, the need to operate a train may depend on price changes and the arrival of ships at ports like Basel or more distant ones like Rotterdam.

The SBB's SYFA system - the master repository for train schedule data - displays scheduled trains in white and paths reserved for the possible placement of extra trains in green.

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In some cases, the running times foreseen in the national schedule for an extra train may be overly-optimistic for the train and type of locomotive whose movement OP is planning. The scheduler in OP must use his or her experience and judgement in setting the running times for the train, which may be longer than those set months earlier by the developers of the national schedule.

Also, the national schedule does not take into account tracks that may be out of service on a particular day.

Another major role of OP is more crisis-management than operations planning: the organization of extra trains in case of major traffic disruptions.

Once OP has planned the extra movement, a special timetable for the train goes to the control centers (such as the one at Zurich-Altstetten) and to the locomotive personnel center for use by the train's driver.

One detail is similar to modern businesses everywhere: OP debits the cost of the movement to the appropriate cost center.