Public transport operates on the basis of timetable years. This usually lasts one year, but it begins on the second weekend in December. The list of upcoming timetable changes is documented on öv-info.ch.
Technical description
The reason for having a separate public transport calendar is not only down to the difference between the calendar year and timetable year, but also to planning and customer information. Up until a couple of years ago, basically, only three timetables were produced: weekdays (Monday to Friday), Saturday and Sunday. These three timetables were then assigned to the relevant calendar days. An additional calendar was also introduced at that time by the IT department. As IT continued to develop, the variations of timetables evolved, to the point that we have gone from the original three timetables across one timetable year to planning nowadays using up to 365 different timetable a year.
This variability is reflected specifically in the timetable data calendar on the Open data platform.
Specific details
A timetable year is not always the same length either. For processing purposes, 400 days are adopted. There is, for instance:
- Operates every day: 1-7
- Operates only on Mondays: 1
Both these “patterns” belong to the perpetual patterns as they will always be the same. As the timetable change always takes place on the same weekday, the timetable year also starts on the same weekday.
Key concepts
- Timetable
- Operating day: The operating day is a single day (date) on which a train operates according to plan. The quantity of operating days within a timetable period corresponds to the train’s operating period.
Technical aspects
The days on which a form of transport is operating is saved as a bitmap. Each bitmap is given a code. Perpetual patterns have the same code every year. Otherwise, new patterns, which are defined for their timetables according to the transport companies’ needs, are given new codes. All these patterns are saved in HRDF in the “BITFELD” file:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 |
000017 FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF0000 000001 DF3870F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF1F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000003 DF3060F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF9F3A7C79D3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000005 DF3870F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF9F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF8F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000006 DF3060F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF9F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000007 DF3874F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF9F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000010 DF3870F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF9F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000011 D02040810204081020408102040810204081020408102040810204081020408102040810204081020408102040830000 000014 DE3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F30000 000015 DF3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000016 DFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFDFBF7EFF0000 000018 DF3874B9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3A7CF8F3E7CF1F3A7C79D3E7CF8F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CBB0000 000020 DF3870F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF9F3A7C79D3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CBB0000 000021 DF3874F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF1F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 000023 CC183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C183060C1830630000 000025 CF1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C78F1E3C7B0000 000026 CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7F0000 000028 DF3060F9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF0F3E7CF1F3A7C79F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CF9F3E7CFB0000 |
Perpetual pattern “000017” is easy to recognise. In HRDF the first two bits are always set and another two set bits must be added according to the timetable year. To be able to process timetables, an understanding of the relevant bitmaps is an absolute requirement.
More detailed information
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