Netherlands-based information communications firm HIT Rail has developed a new message interoperability service, HEROS, for the European railway industry.
Existing passenger reservation systems exchange reservation requests through a set of messages that are technically complex and expensive to maintain.
Incorporating advanced open standards and web services technologies, HIT Rail claims that the product can translate any messaging format into any other, reduce technical complexity and save money for its users.
HEROS provides translation services for communication between the traditional reservation messages and the modern XML version. It also complies with Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) objectives.
Furthermore, the new service helps translation of both MQ and Web Services communication protocols as well as UIC 912 and XML message formats.
Swiss railway undertaking Rhätische Bahn (RhB) has become the first European rail organisation to interconnect with all other European railways using the modern XML protocol.
RhB IT analyst Beat Drittenbass said: "Compared to the former implementation by transactional MQ systems, HEROS allows the implementation by web services with significantly lower implementation costs in hardware and software."
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