Watching the clock: can AI help with train timetabling?

Toshiba Digital and Consulting Corporation and Mitsui have tested a digital twin software on the route between London's Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street station. It was in 2002, while at the University of Michigan, that Dr Michael Grieves wrote about bridging the gap between the virtual and real worlds using digital replicas of physical assets, processes or systems. Two decades on, his concept of a'digital twin' has the potential to revolutionise industry. Digital twins use sensors to gather data in real time, which is then processed in a cloud-based system before being compared with other business and contextual data. The resulting analysis enables the operator to predict problems, optimise critical processes, and drive innovation and performance.