Scientific center “Express” of the JSC “VNIIZHT”: history and modernity

The article reflects the most important areas of work of scientists and employees of the scientific center “Express” and their contribution to the formation and development of information technology since the founding in 1959 of the Department of computer science of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Railway Transport and up to the present.

Theoretical foundations of the application of transport cybernetics in the national economy of the country were created by Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR A. P. Petrov, who was one of the first to use mathematical methods and computing technology in solving transport problems and headed the development in this direction at the institute. The practical work on the creation of the first domestic automated system for selling tickets for trains, called “Express”, was headed by B. E. Marchuk.

Since then, the “Express” system has transformed from a local ticketing system at the Kievsky railway terminal in Moscow into a powerful multifunctional international passenger traffic management system that interacts with the ticket reservation systems of European countries.

Theoretical and practical developments carried out by the scientific center have resulted in the introduction of new information technologies in the Russian Railways holding and in the railway administrations of the member states of the Commonwealth.

At present, the main activities of the staff of the scientific center are the creation of automated control system “Express” of a new generation (ACS “Express” NP) and the system of international integration of passenger transportation Express International.

1. Marchuk B. E., Krasil'nikova N. N., Makarova E. A. Strategiya i prioritetnye napravleniya razvitiya sistemy upravleniya passazhirskimi zheleznodorozhnymi perevozkami [Strategy and priority directions of development of the passenger railway transportation management system]. Vestnik VNIIZhT [Vestnik of the Railway Research Institute], 2002, no. 5, pp. 4 – 9.

2. Marchuk B. E. Strategiya upravleniya passazhirskimi perevozkami rossiyskikh zheleznykh dorog na baze sistemy “Ekspress-3” [Strategy for managing passenger transportation of Russian railways based on the “Express-3” system]. Vestnik VNIIZhT [Vestnik of the Railway Research Institute], 2003, no. 6, pp. 3 – 7.

3. Krasil'nikova N. N., Makarova E. A., Berezka M. P., Magura N. E., Stasenkova E. I. Tekhnologiya oformleniya proezdnykh dokumentov v sisteme “Ekspress-3” v sootvetstvii s kontseptsiey novoy struktury tarifov [Technology of registration of travel documents in the “Express-3” system in accordance with the concept of a new structure of tariffs]. Vestnik VNIIZhT [Vestnik of the Railway Research Institute], 2004, no. 6, pp. 16 – 21.

4. Komissarov A. V. ASU “Ekspress” — avtomatizirovannaya sistema upravleniya passazhirskimi perevozkami na zheleznodorozhnom transporte [ACS “Express” — automated control system for passenger traffic on railway transport]. 2-e izd. [2 nd edition]. Moscow, RAS Publ., 2019, 168 p.

5. Marchuk B. E. Progressivnaya organizatsiya, tekhnika i tekhnologiya passazhirskikh perevozok. Sb. nauch. tr. [Progressive organization, methods and technology of passenger transportation. Coll. of scientific papers]. Moscow, Transport Publ., 1984, 150 p.

6. Marchuk B. E. Opyt razrabotki, ekspluatatsii i perspektivy razvitiya “Ekspress”. Materialy nauch.-prakt. konf. [Experience in the development, operation and development prospects of “Express”. Materials of the scientific and practical conf.]. Moscow, Transport Publ., 1997, 134 p.

7. Marchuk B. E. Povyshenie effektivnosti passazhirskikh perevozok. Sb. nauch. tr. [Improving the efficiency of passenger traffic. Coll. of scientific papers]. Moscow, Transport Publ., 1986, 103 p.

8. Bortkevich A. I. Automated message switching system NETWORK. Problems of informatization in railway transport. Coll. of scientific papers. Moscow, Transport Publ., 1992, pp. 76 – 83.

9. Berezka M. P., Rodin I. V., Ryzhik B. Z. Razvitie matematicheskogo i programmnogo obespecheniya ASU “Ekspress-2” [Development of mathematical and software for automated control system “Express-2”]. Avtomatika, telemekhanika i svyaz' na zheleznodorozhnom transporte, 1994, no. 2, pp. 19 – 20.

10. Marchuk B. E., Rodin I. V., Komissarov A. V. On the way to “Express-3”. Zheleznodorozhnyy transport/Connect! Mir svyazi (sovmestnyy vypusk) [joint release], 1999, no. 9, pp. 64 – 67.

11. Marchuk B. E. Problems of control of the passenger complex and their solution based on the automated control system “Express-3”. Vestnik of the Railway Research Institute, 2007, no. 5, pp. 3 – 8.

12. Komissarov A. V., Makarova E. A. Complex system of planning passenger traffic on the basis of ACS “Express”. Information technologies in railway transport. Coll. of materials of the XVI Int. conf. (St. Petersburg, October 11–13, 2011). St. Petersburg, PGUPS Publ., 2011, pp. 61 – 64.

13. Tolmacheva M. V. Implementation of information technology of the electronic ticket of JSC Russian Railways on the basis of the automatic control system “Express-3”. Vestnik ASU “Ekspress-3”. Informatsionnyy byulleten', 2012, no. 3, pp. 6 – 7. URL: http://www.vniizht.ru/files/3_3.pdf (retrieved on 22.12.2020) (in Russ.).

14. Babenko A. S. Using customer-oriented approaches to improve the quality of passenger service. Vestnik ASU “Ekspress-3”. Informatsionnyy byulleten', 2017, no. 13, pp. 14 – 16. URL: http://www.vniizht.ru/files/3_9.pdf (retrieved on 22.12.2020) (in Russ.).

15. Martynova E. A. Increasing the depth of sale of documents and modernization of the software and technological complex “Express-3”. Vestnik ASU “Ekspress-3”. Informatsionnyy byulleten', 2017, no. 13, pp. 11 – 12. URL: http://www.vniizht.ru/files/vestnik_asu_ekspress3_13.pdf (retrieved on 22.12.2020) (in Russ.).

16. Berezka M. P., Rodin I. V. Implementation and development of the passenger transportation management system “Express-3”. Vestnik of the Railway Research Institute, 2013, no. 4, pp. 25 – 29.

17. Komissarov A. V. Prospects for the development of electronic technologies in the ACS “Express-3”. Vestnik ASU “Ekspress-3”. Informatsionnyy byulleten', 2012, no. 5, p. 17. URL: http://www.vniizht.ru/files/3_5.pdf) (retrieved on 19.11.2019) (in Russ.).

18. Komissarov A. V., Berezka M. P. Ot “Ekspress-3” k “Ekspress-NP” [From “Express-3” to “Express-NP”]. Automation, Communications, Informatics, 2021, no. 1, pp. 47 – 49.

19. Komissarov A. V. ASU “Ekspress-NP” — intellektual'naya sistema novogo pokoleniya [ACS “Express-NP” — an intelligent system of a new generation]. Zheleznodorozhnyy transport, 2021, no. 5, pp. 9 – 13.