Knowledge base

Planning stages and the live operational level

Railway planning happens at several levels. DAS belongs to the live operational level, so it depends on upstream planning but solves a different problem.

Published: February 21, 2026

TopicsPlanning stagesOnline operationalRailway optimisationGoA1GoA2

The four planning levels

  • Strategic planning sets long-term direction such as capacity, fleet, and network choices.
  • Tactical planning covers timetable design and medium-term resource planning.
  • Offline operational planning gets close to execution, but still before the live trip.
  • Online operational control deals with the real train, the real timetable, and the real disruption in front of you.

Where DAS fits

  • DAS does not replace the earlier planning layers.
  • It answers a live question: what advice is useful to the driver now, on this train, under these conditions?
  • That is why DAS sits in the online operational layer even when it uses data created earlier.

Why this matters

  • Good live advice depends on timetable quality, route data, train data, and clear operating rules.
  • Weak upstream planning still shows up in the cab.
  • The better the planning and data around the train, the better the advice can be.

Limits

  • DAS cannot fix every upstream problem.
  • If timing data, route data, or train data is weak, the advice will also be weak.
  • That is why live optimisation still depends on good planning and disciplined operations around it.

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