\ Il Parco \ THE DIGITAL WORLD TAKES THE TRAIN

The train has been the number one vehicle of mass transport and in many cases represented a turning point for the industrial evolution of 19^th century nations. Today digital technology is experiencing trends of rapid development, entering in many aspects of our daily life and influencing the quality of our lives. Just think about the quantity of information and entertainment services we can use through smart phones, PCs and tablets.

The digital world influences every sector in a general manner, including railway transport, which sees Italy more and more among cutting-edge countries even if, in recent years, the obsolescence of means of public transport and budget difficulties of various local administrations have slowed our country’s technology advancement.

Contributing to overcoming this gap is the firm Ermetris, a start-up active in AREA Science Park, established with the mission of creating PIS – Passenger Information Systems – which may be used on board means of public transport. One example is the ERIS APIS solution (Ermetris Advanced Passenger Information System), an electronic and digital system that supplies real time information on the succession of stops through automatic announcements and the display of messages on LCD and LED screens.

This solution also permits the communication of advertising and reference geo videos. The system may be integrated with ERIS VIEW, a network of video surveillance units and emergency phones connected in real time with a central office designed to support the safety and security of passengers. Thanks to ERIS APIS any information on delays and breakdowns of the equipment are managed on board the transport vehicle and sent to the operations central office, permitting timely action to prevent and repair potential critical problems. The system uses open standards for audio communication (such as the SIP standard), xml for information tables and ONVIF for video surveillance.

The ERIS APIS solution is now operational on the trains in the Region of Lombardy belonging to Trenord srl, Venetian trains of the Sistemi Territoriali SpA and the trains of the Campania Region belonging to EAV (the ex-Circumvesuviana company).