A natural language search tool for managing Germany’s high-speed railway network

Since 2017 we design, develop and nurture the dashboard app Peakspotting for Deutsche Bahn AG. It is a browser based tool, that allows its users to explore and work with booking and prognosis data for all long distance train operations in Germany. But is is also a complex tool. Specific design decisions aim to support its power users, the yield managers of Deutsche Bahn.

Spotti sits happily on the other site of the spectrum! Using Peakspotting as a foundation, it aims to be a search tool for everbody at Deutsche Bahn whilst providing access to the same vast data set.

However, Spotti is not merly a tool for the yield management department at Deutsche Bahn.

Throughout its runtime in the last years, it actively invited and gained a following and among other users in the organization as well. They all profit from up-to-date booking and prognosis data in their daily operation:

• Train station operators know when more passengers arrive at specific platforms in advance.

• Service personnel knows which carriage might require additional staff for cleaning and maintenance.

• Traffic control can plan future construction works based on the expected network load.

Spotti's overall goal is to provide them with a public interface that picks up their tongue and overcomes any required domain expertise.

Spotti allows train service operators to quickly get up-to-date information on train capacities, bookings, and predictions using simple natural language.

Millions of data points are instantly available to yield and traffic managers through a familiar search interface. These features make Spotti the primary tool for quick and direct tasks done by the teams working with Peak Spotting every day.