Algorithmic Timetabling in Practice: Building a Timetabling System at SBB

Speakers: Dr. Gabrio Caimi and M.Sc. Florian Flükiger, Swiss Federal Railways

About the event:

Algorithmic timetabling has been an active area of research for decades, yet deploying optimization-based timetabling tools in real-world railway operations reveals a striking gap between academic assumptions and operational reality. In this talk, we present insights from the development and application of an algorithmic timetabling tool embedded in SBB’s Traffic Management System. We discuss three key divergences from classical problem formulations: first, that operational timetables need not be conflict-free — conflicts are an accepted and manageable reality, and the objective is to minimize their impact rather than eliminate them; second, that objective functions must go far beyond simple travel-time minimization, incorporating a rich set of planner-driven quality criteria; and third, that timetabling is not a one-shot optimization problem but a continuous, iterative process requiring repeated updates as conditions evolve. Together, these observations motivate a rethinking of how algorithmic approaches are designed and evaluated for practical deployment.

About the speakers:

Dr. Gabrio Caimi holds a doctorate (Dr. sc. ETH, 2009) in Mathematics with a focus on Operations Research from ETH Zurich. He worked at ETH Zurich (2000–2009) on public-transport projects and publications, then moved to industry with senior roles in project and portfolio management at BLS Netz AG, focusing on infrastructure planning and capacity in an international context. Since 2015 he has been with SBB IT, responsible for strategic development of digital solutions for railway operations. He is an expert in strategic planning, timetable design, and applying Operations Research to optimize complex rail systems, combining academic expertise with practical application.

M.Sc. Florian Flükiger is an Application Engineer at SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), where he works on the Traffic Management System as part of the team developing the timetabling core. In parallel, he is a PhD student at the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT) at ETH Zurich in the group of Prof. Francesco Corman. He holds an M.Sc. in Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems from ETH Zurich, with a thesis on the integration of resilience in the railway planning process, co-supervised by ETH Zurich and TU Delft. His research focuses on integrated planning of railway systems, with particular emphasis on integrated periodic timetabling, and vehicle scheduling.

EURO Practitioners’ Forum past and planned activities are available to the Forum members, as well as the wider public.

Register as a member for free, to get the regular updates on all activities: EPF Member registration page. The recordings and details from previous webinars are also available on this website. Follow the Forum LinkedIN group and LinkedIN page, and feel free to get in touch.