Enhancing OSRD with NGE’s Macroscopic Visualization

OSRD (Open Source Railway Designer) is a an open source web application, supported by SNCF Réseau, for operational studies (railway infrastructure design, simulations, capacity analysis, timetabling) and also last-minute train slot design! Operational studies' scope is microscopic, however, OSRD aims to cover a wider scope, including more long term studies, aka macroscopic studies. Also, OSRD is missing a graphic tool, to visualize and work on timetables, which can be tough to read on bigger scales. Source code: https://github.com/OpenRailAssociation/osrd

NGE (Netzgrafik-Editor) is another open source web application, supported by SBB CFF FFS, that enables the creation, modification, and analysis of regular-interval timetable, through a network graphic visualization. It has been designed to work on macroscopic studies. Source code: https://github.com/SchweizerischeBundesbahnen/netzgrafik-editor-frontend

This talk is about the integration of NGE in OSRD: - open source collaboration - microscopic / macroscopic concepts - integration of an Angular application in a React application

By providing an editor tool, NGE enables OSRD to work on macroscopic studies as well, creating opportunities and saving crucial development time, that can be used to focus on a model that can support both microscopic and macroscopic levels of detail.

Also, the choices made for the integration should allow OSRD to benefit NGE development, and in return, OSRD should contribute to NGE, in order to drive each other forwards.

Thanks to the open source, OSRD gained a powerful and well designed component, and NGE gained not only users, but also developers that contribute to the project. The two teams work alongside, redefining the working experience in big organizations, proving that the open source approach works!