DEVELOPMENT OF AN IOT BASED RAIL TICKET RESERVATION AND TRAIN

MONITORING SYSTEM.

BY

AYOMIDE SAMSON ABIODUN and

FASINU TEMIDAYO LUCKY

CPE/2017/1044 and CPE/2017/1055

A Research Project Submitted to Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of

Engineering, Federal University Oye- Ekiti (FUOYE), Ekiti, Nigeria.
in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering
(B.Eng) in Computer Engineering,

MARCH, 2017
 CERTIFICATION
This project with the title

DEVELOPMENT OF AN IOT BASED RAIL TICKET RESERVATION AND TRAIN

MONITORING SYSTEM.

Submitted by
AYOMIDE SAMSON ABIODUN and
FASINU TEMIDAYO LUCKY

Has satisfied the regulations governing the award of degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (B.Eng)
Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti

………………………………….. ………………………
DR. (MRS) B. A. OMODUNBI Date
Supervisor

………………………………… ………………………
Dr. I.A. Adeyanju Date
Head of Department
 DEDICATION
This research work is dedicated to God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega of my life.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
And I humbly wish to appreciate the management a
 ABSRACT

Summary of the whole project

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENT PAGE
 LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
 LIST OF TABLES
TABLES PAGE
 LIST OF ACRONYMS
End of front Matter
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 PREAMBLE
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods, by way of wheeled
vehicles running on rails (Payton, 2004). It is also commonly referred to as train
transport. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail
vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. The Nigerian
Railway traces its history to the year 1898, when the first railroad in Nigeria was
constructed by the British colonial government. The Nigerian Railway system officially
came into existence in October, 1912 when Frederick Lugard merged the pre-existing
Lagos government railway and the Baro-Kano railway to become the 'Nigerian Railway'.
The merger further enhanced the desirability of merging the Northern and Southern
Nigeria protectorates.
The railway line ran on two principal North and South trunks: one from Lagos to Nguru
and Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, both tracts having branch extensions. In the 1950s, partly
for economic reasons, the railway system in the country came under the coordination of
the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). The demands for such means of transportation
pave a bright innovation into the sector where consumers are increasingly walking their
way on board the train system.
Technology has found a way for making it easy to the consumers when boarding any
means of transportation e.g. Train reservation system, Flight booking system, bus
reservation system or the Uber platform (where individual can request for a cab with a
fingertip using their phones). Queuing whenever a passenger wants to board a means of
transportation is one of the most complain activity in the process especially in African.
Purchasing of boarding ticket makes some people loss courage into such system, a long
queue at the ticket counter is something regularly experienced by the train commuters
railway system. The gravity of this problem is clearly visible. Other than the obvious
wastage of time in the queues, the stress and frustration created by this problem on people
daily, is another major concern. This brings a lot of inconvenience to the customers. The
manual process tends to be time consuming, data duplication, and error exposed.
(Athukorale & Dissanayake, 2008).
Rail transport as an important means of transport, has played an important role in the
transport industry. With rapid economic development, buying train tickets problem has
been very prominent. The electronic commerce could solve the problem of railway
ticketing. A train ticket is a ticket issued by a railway operator that enables the commuters
to travel on the railway network. Tickets can authorize the commuters to travel a set
itinerary at a specific time. The introduction of manual ticketing and monitoring has
always made it easier for the authorities to keep a track on various events involving
financial matters and the travelling patterns of the people. However, these activities had
to be carried out manually with the help of a huge man power and resources. The use of
electronic equipment’s like computers, printing machines, paper & ink are the major and
most important resources required for paper ticketing systems.
 The introduction of technologies has only paved way for quick & fast computing and also
information gathering which are directly or indirectly beneficial for the authorities. There
were also alternative machines being introduced to stay clear from never ending queues
with the introduction of CVM coupons. The consumers had to line themselves in a queue
in order to avail these coupon booklets from manually set up counters. These coupons had
separate digital machines which printed the Date & Time before travelling commenced.
The major disadvantage of using these coupons is that it could not restrict the reuse of
same coupons by reprinting the new dates over old ones. It also failed to record and print
the commuter’s source and destination.
Recent developments in different types of technologies enabled the development of new
performing systems that can successfully be employed for various applications and
subsequent functions related to railway operations, including safety and security aspects.
Functions such as real-time monitoring, tracking and tracing of railway vehicles can
improve the overall rail system reliability and provide better harmonized traffic for freight
and passenger trains. These would also contribute to the improvement of interoperability,
by enabling the use of the captured data in real time.

Railway Reservation System facilitates the passengers to enquire about the trains
available on the basis of source and destination, Booking and Cancellation of tickets,
enquire about the status of the booked ticket, tracking the current position etc. It is the
computerized system of reserving the seats of train seats in advanced. On-line reservation
has made the process for the reservation of seats very much easier than ever before.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The traditional rail ticket reservation and train monitoring systems rely on manual
processes that are often time-consuming and inefficient manipulative including long lines
at ticket counters, inaccurate train arrival times, ticket racketeering by train officials. This
leads to an overall negative experience for passengers and reduces the efficiency of public
transportation. With the advancement of technology there is a need for automated and
efficient systems that provides accurate information, security and reduces waiting times
for passengers and can also improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of rail
transportation. IoT technology provides a promising solution for developing such
systems.
Since the introduction of Train in Nigeria, there have been several issues ranging from
late arrival, improper seat reservation, poor record keeping of passengers, insecurity, and
unpredictable arrival of trains which causes inconveniences to passengers. The current
train ticketing system is manual, manipulative and time-consuming including long lines at
ticket counters, ticket racketeering by train officials. This leads to an overall negative
experience for passengers. The proposed system will partially solve these problems and
tracking of train in real time will be transparent and available even to the passengers.
One reason for long queues at ticket counters is, in most stations there are not enough
ticket counters to handle the peak time crowd. But it is not practicable to increase the
number of ticket counters just to serve at peak time. Another reason is the time taken for
 one passenger to buy a ticket. The person at the counter has to issue the ticket and deal
with the “change”. This increases the time taken to complete the transaction. The solution
to this problem is to automate the system.
.

Another problem train commuters face is knowing the exact time a train arrives and also
tracking the real time position of a train. In most countries’ railway systems, there are
many accidents occurring due to human activities and natural calamities, man-made
disasters, terrorism and bad weather conditions which lead to late arrivals of trains, which
in turn makes passengers go on asking the ticket checkers about the arrival of expected
trains. This creates trouble to the ticket checker to keep answering thousands of
passengers who are boarding the train. The GPS (Global Positioning System) gives the
position of any object on which it as placed with respect to the latitude and longitude of
the earth. This technique would be helpful in tracking the exact location of the train and
as well the speed of the moving object. So this method can be used in the railway system
also to get the exact position of the train and it can be displayed in the train as well as the
railway station.
The train monitoring system using GPS and IoT (Internet of Things) addresses issues like
detecting the real time position and current speed of the train. The current system
operated only by train operators at train stations only gives arrival and departure times of
trains, and is not accessible by members of the public. What is needed in the current
Railways is a system that would detect the current position and the speed of the train and
command the driver what speed should be maintained till the next instruction comes. The
current command system uses radio signals, which have limitations such as signal
distortions and irrelevant messages being heard using the walkie-talkie system which is
used in the current railways systems. The new system will be a major improvement for
the simple fact that it would utilize a railway map database via Global Positioning
Systems to provide the driver with the exact data.

The potential benefits for asset management and maintenance, railway operations, freight
logistics and management of the passenger environment, along with the possible obstacles
to the implementation of such systems, are presented. Data transfer and communication
technologies are an integral part of effective tracking and condition monitoring systems.
The issues surrounding data capture and transmission to a storage system, powering on-
board systems, the analysis of the data and the distribution of the information derived
from the data (as well as raw data) are discussed. The advances in the communication
tools will help providing the actual condition and tracking of the rail vehicles in real time
to customers and entities in charge of maintenance by transmitting all the captured data to
effective web-based applications and monitoring platforms that can be accessed through
PC, tablets or even smartphones.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this project is to partially solve the issue of corruption, negative public ratings
and insecurity in Trains and also enable an online booking/reservation system. The
objectives are:
1. To design an IOT BASED RAIL TICKET RESERVATION AND TRAIN
MONITORING SYSTEM.
2. To implement an IOT BASED RAIL TICKET RESERVATION AND TRAIN
MONITORING SYSTEM
3. To evaluate the system implemented.

1.4 Scope of the Study

The developed system will facilitate online booking; keep customer records, provides an
online menu on train schedules, train destinations, their prices and alternative payment
method and will have page dedicated to customer queries and replies. The system
excludes reservation cancellation, specific seat reservation, classes and other management
issues.

1.5 Significance of the Study

 CHAPTER 2
2.1 Introduction
The chapter is aimed at to reviewing literatures related to the development of an IoT-based
rail ticket reservation and train monitoring system. This literature review provides a solid
background and justification for the proposed project, identifies the gaps in the current
knowledge or solutions in the field, and highlights the relevant theoretical concepts and
technologies that will guide the research. The literature review also discusses the potential
limitations and challenges of the project and proposes a methodology or approach that will be
used to achieve the project objectives.
2.2 Internet of Things (IoT)
According to ORACLE, a software developer company. Internet of Things (IoT) can simply
be described as the network of physical objects “things” that are embedded with sensors,
software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with
other devices and systems over the internet. The devices range from ordinary household
objects to sophisticated industrial tools.
IoT has become one of the most important technologies of the 21 st century. Now, we can
connect everyday objects like kitchen appliances, cars, thermostats, baby monitors to the
internet via embedded devices, seamless communication is possible between people,
processes, and things.
By means of low-cost computing, the cloud, big data, analytics, and mobile technologies,
physical things can share and collect data with minimal human intervention. In this hyper
connected world, digital systems can record, monitor, and adjust each interaction between
connected things.

2.3 How IoT Works and Types of IoT

An IoT ecosystem consists of web-enabled smart devices that use embedded systems, such as
processors, sensors and communication hardware, to collect, send and act on data they
acquire from their environments. IoT devices share the sensor data they collect by connecting
to an IoT gateway or other edge device where data is either sent to the cloud to be analyzed
or analyzed locally. Sometimes, these devices communicate with other related devices and
act on the information they get from one another. The devices do most of the work without
human intervention, although people can interact with the devices -- for instance, to set them
up, give them instructions or access the data (TechTarget).
 An image showing how an IoT system works from collecting data to taking action

Types of IoT Networks.

1. Cellular networks e.g. LTE-M, NB-IoT, etc.
2. LAN/PAN e.g. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.
3. LPWAN e.g. LoRaWAN, Sigfox, etc.
4. Mesh protocols e.g. RFID, ZigBee, Z-wave, etc.

1. Cellular networks (3G, 4G, 5G, next-gen 5G)

Cellular networks like 3G, 4G, and 5G are already prevailing in the consumer mobile market.
Cellular networks have the largest coverage compared to any other wireless technology.
However, these networks carry a high operational cost and have high power consumption.
Despite large coverage and wide bandwidth, cellular networks are not often suitable for IoT
devices only due to their high cost and large power footprint. For battery-powered IoT
devices, cellular networks do get a clear no. Still, cellular networks are suitable for some
specific use cases to which no other communication technology may fit.

For example, autonomous cars, connected health infrastructure, real-time video surveillance,
fleet management in transportation, and time-sensitive industrial automation are not possible
without cellular networks. These applications not just require frequent data communication,
but the volume of data involved is also too high. Again the IoT devices communicating in
these applications require very distant deployment. Cellular networks are ubiquitous and offer
wide bandwidth that makes them viable for such use-cases despite the cost and power
downside. Most of these applications require streaming data with a high payload per day. As
cellular networks are capable of providing a data rate greater than 380kbps with a bandwidth
of 5~20MHz (3G/4G), neither high payload nor streaming is a problem. A real push to most
of these applications will be next-generation 5G cellular.

2. LPWAN

Low Power Wireless Area Network (LPWAN) is a viable solution for connecting IoT devices
deployed remotely and there are both licensed and non-licensed LPWANs. The licensed one
includes NB-IoT and LTE-M while the non-licensed include Sigfox and LoRaWAN.
LPWANs allow battery-powered IoT devices to communicate over long distances, only a
small amount of data can be communicated with these technologies due to lower bandwidth.
LPWAN has several advantages over cellular networks. Like, these networks are cheap and
can be integrated into small circuits. Unlike cellular networks, these networks can operate on
battery for several years.

 NB-IoT is a licensed LPWAN that let’s communicate unlimited payload per day at a
bandwidth of 180MHz. This narrowband IoT protocol is low-cost with medium power
consumption. The NB-IoT devices do not require any gateway and can communicate
data directly to the server. With a data rate of 200kbps and unlimited payload per day,
NB-IoT allows a massive number of connections. Though the protocol does not
support mobility to a greater extent, it is known for good performance both outdoors
and indoors.
 LTE-M is a licensed LPWAN that is based on using LTE bases for communication
between IoT devices. Also known as Cat-M1, LTE-M provides a higher bandwidth
allowing massive connection density and even applications like VoIP to operate.
Compared to NB-IoT, LTE-M devices have higher power consumption and require a
gateway to communicate with the server. The devices are also more expensive
compared to NB-IoT devices.
 LoRaWAN. This non-licensed LPWAN uses free ISM frequency band, has a
bandwidth of 125~500 KHz, operates on a coverage area of 15 km and has a data rate
of up to 27 kbps. Due to lower power consumption, LoRa is most suitable for battery-
powered industrial IoT devices. LoRa devices can run on a battery for up to 10 years.
Being non-licensed, LoRa networks do have a limitation. They can only use 1 percent
of their bandwidth. Normally, LoRa allows up to 140 messages of 12 bytes to be
transmitted uplink in a day. There is more flexibility regarding downlinks. The data is
always transmitted in 12-byte packets. LoRa is most suitable for battery-powered
sensor networks where the controller spends most of the time in sleep mode and
transmits sensor data intermittently. The data needs to be communicated to a gateway
before transmitting to the server.
 Sigfox is a non-licensed LPWAN. With a bandwidth of 200 kHz, it is an Ultra
Narrow Band (UNB) technology. It is based on the same ISM frequency band that
LoRaWAN is. It allows coverage of 30~50 km. Sigfox allows up to 140 messages of
12 bytes to be transmitted uplink in a day. The downlink is limited to 4 messages per
 day. Despite a lower data rate and narrow bandwidth, Sigfox has the advantage of
global reach.

3. LAN/PAN

These are networks that are limited to the local environment like within a building or small
premises. Despite small coverage, they have high bandwidth and great data transfer rate to
offer. Examples are Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks et.

 Bluetooth/Bluetooth Low Energy are short-range communication technologies that

are designed for consumer IoT applications. It can be used for both point-to-point and
point-to-multipoint data communication. It is mainly used by smartwatches and smart
home devices to communicate with mobile phones or smart hubs. With low energy
and low power consumption, Bluetooth beacon networks can be used in retail stores
for consumer services like in-store navigation, personalization, and content delivery.

 Wi-Fi networks provide high bandwidth and excellent data transfer rates but at the
cost of high power consumption and limited coverage. Due to limited coverage, high
power consumption, and lack of scalability, Wi-Fi networks are never used in
industrial IoT applications. Because Wi-Fi networks are mostly available as
broadband services to homes, it is useful for smart home and home security
applications. The newest Wi-Fi generation – Wi-Fi 6.0 is applicable to retail
applications and open Wi-Fi infrastructures catering to digital mobile services.

4. Mesh protocols

These are best suited for low-range distributed networks like sensor networks and low-range
industrial IoT. The data is communicated to a gateway or a central hub. These
communication technologies are a robust solution for in-building application
protocols/technologies. examples of mesh protocols are ZigBee, Z-Wave, RFID.

 ZigBee is a popular non-licensed mesh protocol widely used in distributed IoT

applications. This is a short-range protocol covering a distance of fewer than 100
meters. In industrial applications, it is directly compared with LPWANs. Compared to
LPWAN, ZigBee provides a higher data transfer rate and greater power efficiency. As
ZigBee devices operate in a mesh topology, the network remains operational by
routing communication through other devices even if a device within the network is
shut down or get malfunctions. Along with Wi-Fi, ZigBee is also widely used for
home automation.
 Z-wave has higher coverage and is designed to suit applications like smart home and
home surveillance. Z-wave uses low-frequency radio waves that are not interfered by
Wi-Fi signals. Compared to ZigBee, Z-wave is a proprietary technology and requires
a license for usage. One problem with Z-wave devices is interoperability as it operates
in different frequency bands in Europe and USA.
  RFID is mainly used for asset tracking. The RFID tags communicate minimal data
within a short range, usually for identification. For reading RFID tags, line-of-sight is
not required, like in the case of barcodes. This technology is widely used in the retail
and logistics sector. Some popular applications of RFID include supply chain
management, asset tracking, E-passport, automated checkouts, human implants,
medical monitoring, security access control, and payment systems. In India, FASTag,
a passive RFID technology, is used for automating toll payments.

2.4 IoT-based Rail Ticket Reservation Systems

IoT-based rail ticket reservation systems use various sensors and devices to automate the
ticketing process. These systems enable passengers to book tickets online or through mobile
applications, which reduces the need for manual ticketing processes. IoT sensors can also be
used to monitor the availability of seats in trains. and to
2.5 IoT-based Train Monitoring Systems
IoT-based train monitoring systems use various sensors and devices to monitor the movement
and status of trains. These systems can provide real-time updates on the location and speed of
trains, which can be used to optimize train schedules and improve the safety and security of
passengers. IoT sensors can also be used to monitor the condition of railway tracks and
provide real-time updates on the status of train schedules.
2.6 Challenges and Limitations
Despite the potential benefits of IoT-based rail ticket reservation and train monitoring
systems, there are several challenges and limitations that need to be addressed. One of the
main challenges is the reliability and security of the IoT devices and networks used in these
systems. Another challenge is the integration of multiple IoT devices and systems, which
requires a robust and scalable architecture. Additionally, the implementation of IoT-based
systems requires significant investment in terms of infrastructure and skilled personnel.

2.7 Methodology
To address the challenges and limitations of IoT-based rail ticket reservation and train
monitoring systems, the proposed project will adopt a mixed-methods approach. The project
will involve the development of a prototype IoT-based system that integrates various sensors
and devices to automate the ticketing process and monitor the movement and status of trains.
The project will also involve a qualitative evaluation of the system, which will involve
interviews with stakeholders and users to assess the usability and effectiveness of the system.
The data collected from the evaluation will be analyzed using thematic analysis and statistical
techniques to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the proposed
system.
The proposed project will be developed using the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
SDLC is the process of understanding how an Information System (IS) can support business
needs, designing the system, building it and delivering it to users. The SDLC is composing of
four phases: Planning, Analysis, Design and Implementation. The SDLC traces the history
(life cycle) of a developing information system. Structured design methodology is Waterfall
Development. With Waterfall Development, analyst and users proceed in sequence from one
phase to the next mapped out and evaluate.
 Research and Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive study of the existing local
train ticketing systems including their limitations and potential areas for
improvement.
 System Design: Design of the proposed IOT based Monitoring and train ticketing
system taking into account the findings from the research and analysis phase
 Implementation: Develop the system using appropriate technologies and
software tools, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React JS, React Naïve and PHP.
 Testing and Evaluation: Test the system for accuracy and efficiency, making any
necessary modifications based on the results of the testing.

RELATED WORKS
Altexsoft (2009), A travel-tech engineering company published a report on how to drive and
manage online train reservations. Altexsoft highlighted the current state of railway
technology and the issues it presented which were: Lack of railway corporation, Lack of
standardization, Lack of customer data, Legacy Technology. Three of these problems
(standardization, customer data, and technology) can be approached by implementing a
modern, advanced rail reservation system. The fourth one (cooperation) will follow when you
have the base for it. In this article, they devised for the use of a system that incorporates
multichannel distribution, with a train booking engine that has inventory management, fare
and price generation, seat optimization, Information sharing, customer profile management,
advanced search capability using an extranet and an application programming interface (API)
technology but this system was not user friendly, was not easy to manage and proved difficult
to maintain.
N. K. Das et all (2009), Implements a system with GPS-GSM/GPRS device which is kept on
the train and forward its position to the controller via GPRS/GSM network. This provides the
control rooms with the information like position and speed. The system collects the position
of a train at every instant and passes the information to a web server, the data stored on the
web server can in turn be accessed by the client side through website or mobile application.
This is allowing a systematic way for railway operation management and reduction of human
intervention, controlling activities and performances. This is an accurate, reliable, precise, up-
to-date and structured geospatial data which is key for decision making.
Andhra (2011). The Indian Railway catering & tourism corporation ltd., (IRCTC Ltd) a PSU
of Ministry of Railways developed a system for advanced booking of Rail tickets through
Internet. They introduced the concept of E-tickets. The strength of this development was that
the process of booking an E-Ticket was made easy, simple, user friendly and convenient.
Travel on SMS E-Ticketing by IRCTC was also helpful in protecting environment by saving
paper. The development made it possible in India that E-ticket holders are now permitted to
travel without printout of ticket and can travel with SMS sent by ITCTC along with valid
Photo ID proof. The limitation of this development was that although it poses to be a 24
hours’ service, it was not always available either due to system error or network or a we
error. It was over reliant on the world wide web for adequate performance.
Chandra (2012), proposed a computerized passenger reservation system for the Indian
railway. The system was designed following the software development life cycle using the
waterfall model, a software was developed that only runs on a desktop computer or laptop
with minimum of windows 7 operating system and an Intel Pentium processor. The problem
however with the proposed system was the inability to print receipts after booking. The
system was able to also provide train information at the center of booking. Basically, the
system was time consuming and often result in large cues at the booking center as all
passengers have to come to the booking center to reserve their tickets.
Devyani and Neelesh (2012), Developed a model of an automatic vehicle location tracker
which can track and monitor any remote vehicle equipped with a software unit that receives
and transfers signals through GPS satellites. They presented results of their model starting
from the execution of startup routines, logs of tracking server and pointing out current
location of vehicle. Their models alternated between using RFID if the distance between an
in-vehicle unit and a tracking server is less, and using GSM/GPRS on GSM network by using
SMS 0r direct TP/IP connection with tracking server through GPRS. This makes the tracking
system available for small sale usage as well as large sale use.
Niklas et all (2012), Developed a web based software Train Monitor system that will be used
for the monitoring of train movements. This new system has been adapted to the specific
needs of an intermodal transport operator and integrates operating information from the
transshipment terminals. This system can also be used by other railway companies and
operators because of the modular system architecture. The system is constituted of three
modules which are Real Time Tracking, exchange of information on irregularities and wagon
detachments and train run data storage and statistics.
Wang (2012), Proposed a system in the design and achievement of a railway online ticketing
system. The system is structured into the data access layer, business logic layer and business
exterior layer. The system implements customer registration, customer cancellation, ticket
inquiries, online booking, online ticket refund in the system. Business process design and
database design is the focus of this system which are clearly and effectively designed by the
business process diagrams and database ER diagram. Real-time tickets messages will be
feedback to customers by the online railway booking system. The efficiency of booking is
improved, manual booking errors is reduced, the management of railway passenger transport
and customer booking is facilitated. Two major functions were included in the system:
System function which includes (customer register function, customer cancellation function,
searching function, booking function, refunding function) and the Customer register function
which includes (The registration information; user’s name, user's telephone, user's address.
customer cancellation function).
Arshiya et all. (2013), Designed a model system called Advanced train control system
(ATCS) that seeks to address problems such as accidents, arrivals of trains, real time position
and speed of the moving train. The GPS in the ATS received signals from a group of three
satellites for getting the latitude and longitude of the train. The GPS for the system was setup
with precise and accurate parameters for the operator at the control station to track the
position and speed of the train. This system provided the train driver all information related to
the train and could also alert the driver of the train whether to continue with the same speed
or make any changes in the speed. The module has an additional feature or database that
stores information about speed at various stages which was used for investigative purposes in
the case of accidents. The system however was not available to all, the system was set up for
train drivers and control operators in the train leaving the passengers out. The system was not
accessible by passengers in the train.
Kumar et all. (2013), Proposed a new technique for ticketing system in railway by use of
smart cards. A smart card based ticketing system will carry all modes of ground transport
nationwide including railways. When it comes to public transit, passenger demands are clear;
commuters want convenient, affordable and efficient options for travel, the proposed smart
card in the form of electronic ticketing promised to deliver on those demands. The proposed
Smart cards are more convenient, they can be purchased and "reloaded” using automated
processes and in some cases at home on the Internet. The cards are small, very secured, can't
be read, copied, manipulated with, counterfeited or duplicated. The cards protect privacy
where needed. The Smart cards are re-writable and can be recharged thousands of times.
They contain digital log with location, date, time, person's stamp to record every transaction,
the proposed smart card ticketing system also helped in avoiding long queues at the booking
center making it easier and faster to get the train. The proposed system was very effective but
the cost of implementing the system was very high. Ticket cancelling was not included in this
system.
Mohd et all. (2013), Proposed the development of a web based tracking and monitoring
system that utilizes the features of web technology in railway industry. The web application
will utilize the use of google map and it is capable of showing the real time location of the
train being monitored. The web application if implemented can be accessed through
computer systems and mobile phones and it will provide a general solution for the train
operators such as: fast response teams and recovery teams if any railway disaster happens and
it curbs problems such as time wasting for the users as well.
Brakewood et all (2014), made a research aimed to assess the level of demand for mobile
payments by train riders giving interest in mobile payments so as to develop a mobile train
payment system, in this research, preference survey data from two commuter rail lines in the
greater Boston area were used in a discrete choice modeling framework to predict mobile
payment adoption by riders. This model was then used to forecast demand for mobile
payments on the entirety of Boston’s commuter rail network. The limitation this system poses
was that other commuter rail operators do not have the resources to conduct detailed
customer research to assess rider demand for mobile payments in their region.
This study also aimed to develop a simple methodology that other regional rail operators can
use to estimate mobile ticketing adoption in their region. Despite the interest in mobile
ticketing by regional rail operators throughout the country, there was very little literature
pertaining to mobile payments for commuter rail fare collection. Most prior research was
focused on mobile payments using near-field communications (NFC) technology and its
application to urban bus and subway systems (Dorfman 2007; Quibria 2008; NFC Forum
2012). The onboard survey data revealed that there are high levels of technology use by
riders, with approximately 76 percent of riders using smartphones and 50 percent making
mobile purchases at other merchants. Mobile ticketing offers these riders a more convenient
purchase method than prepayment at ticket windows or vending machines and is less
problematic (for both the customer and operator) than onboard cash transactions. This
methodology assumes that operators have recent travel survey data, including rider
demographics. A setback the development pose was the inability of some of the drivers and
passengers to operate the mobile ticketing app or make purchase from their mobile devices.
Hossam (2014), Proposed a system that is able to not only communicate with the train but
also locate it with great precision in real time. This system allows the deployment of
communication and tracking systems with a minimum cost both in maintenance and
infrastructure. The proposed system allows the deployment of an integrated system that
simultaneously includes a radio communication system and a location solution in low budget
railways. A network system is also proposed which will work as a redundant system when the
traditional radio and tracking systems are available, but will also work on secondary lines
where no other system is available.
Muhammad (2015), Developed a ticketing system that issues electronic tickets (commonly
referred to as e-tickets). The project methodology used in the development of this system is
the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). The system was developed using HTML, Java
and PHP-MYSQL. A lot of factors were put into consideration which includes online
database access, data transmission via networks, database security, database retrieval online,
multi user network access, online data capture, etc. The system is very simple in design, it
requires very low system resources and the system works in almost all configurations. It has
the following features: It ensures data accuracy, Records will be efficiently maintained by
DBMS, Availability of seats can be enquired easily, Minimum time needed for the various
processing, it also provides better Service. The system was effective but the payment system
for booking of the ticket was not properly sorted out as the payment platform would most
times accept payment without remitting to the ticketing department to proceed and issue
tickets.
Pintu et all. (2015), proposed a system that computerizes the data of train reservations. The
need of this system arose because as is the known fact that India has the largest railway
network in the whole of the world and to handle it manually is quite a tough job. By
computerizing it, it will be possible to overcome many of its limitations and will be able to
make it more efficient. The handling of data and records for such a vast system is a very
complex task if done manually but it can be made much easier if the system is computerized.
The system is limited in such a way that a train starting from a particular source will have a
single destination. The basic functions being performed by the system are: It reserves and
cancels seats for the passenger, it contains information about the trains, it contains
information about the passenger, it contains the details of reservation fees, any concessions
etc. Although the project work has been done in a complete and detailed manner but some
more features were not concluded. They were left out as a part of the future development.
Godson et all (2017), proposed a smart ticketing system architecture for railways which
completely scraps the idea of paper tickets and completely harness the amount of money
commuters have invested for their travelling. If the commuter intends to travel from a source
to destination with no intention to return on the very same day, then only half ticket costing
will be taken into consideration. The commuters will be benefited with the provision of using
the seasonal tickets as per their requirements depending on the number of days they have
subscribed. This model also enables the authorities to detect those commuters who never pay
and buy or fail to carry their tickets or pass while travelling. The proposed system also has
features like crowd analysis and suggesting cost effective offers to the railway commuters.
Embedded in the proposed system were three RFID readers, installed and connected to a
raspberry pi device. The first RFID sensor is installed on the entry door barricade, so when
the commuters passes through this door the RFID identifies the tag and send this event data
raspberry pi which send it to AWS IoT, from which the source information can be estimated.
The second RFID sensor are installed at the door of the train coach, so whenever a commuter
enters the train coach, the train coach door RFID reader will record this event data and send it
to raspberry pi which then send to AWS IoT, from which the system will know which train
the commuter has boarded and how many commuters are present in the train coach. And
lastly the third sensor will be installed on the exit door barricades at the station. so when the
commuters move out from this exit door barricade, the RFID reader will record this event
data and send it to raspberry pi which will send it to AWS IoT, from which the commuter's
destination can be estimated. The raspberry pi is connected to AWS IoT through MQTT
protocol. However, the system was expensive.
Lalit and Rajeev (2017), looked at how staffs working in the railway ticketing offices have
issued tickets illegally and proposed a way of stopping that. The work-study was confined to
review the effective and economical utilization of Reservation staff workers. The team
collected the data/information from different segments/locations of IRCA building, NRHQ
and Railway Board. They highlighted having a recording system that monitors and records
the tickets issued, however, the problem was that the staffs still found a way to maneuver
their way around it and avoided proper recording and ticketing.
Mallikarjuna et all (2018), in this article, the survey of railway industry broadband
technologies like GSM-R, LTE, 5G, IEEE 802.11 are examined. GSM-Railway is an
international wireless mobile communications and standard for various railway applications
were described. In present PRS system there are many dilemmas passengers face to book the
ticket and railway reservation system to issues the ticket. Passengers must wait on IRCTC
website more than 5 minutes to book ticket. Hence present PRS is updated to smart railway
reservation under the vision of India 2022. The passenger vending machine read the
passenger details that can be interacted with railway reservation system to UIDAI database.
The result proved that passengers obtained the ticket with fraction of mile seconds, the
reservation chart contains the passengers name with photo, effective passenger reservations
will be maintained. The article described the passenger ticket generation, ticket validation,
with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the smart train transportation
the vision of India 2022 and the experimental result proved that IoT system is effective than
well-known systems.
Nazish and Sanobar (2018), Proposed to design and develop a low cost management system
based on the integration of GPS AND GSM modules linked with Arduino board, this system
will be an integrated system that track trains anytime from any location. The project also
proposes to install a motion detector in the driver’s portion, when the train is running on track
and the drivers motion is not detected the system sends an alert to the station stating that “the
 drivers movement is not detected”. The system proposes to reduce time wasting and
accidents.
Anindra (2020), Proposed a system where the passengers have all necessary information
about the location of train, confirmation of ticket; if it is in waiting by the PNR number. The
proposed system was also able to cancel a reserved ticket online. Embedded in this system is
the security and fraud detection menu, which detects a person who is travelling without
tickets or with fake tickets. This system contains fingerprint verification, which is very
simple for everyone. Using location identification services, the system identifies the person
who crossed the destination and notifies to ticket checker. This system was limited by its
reliance on human work. This system increased manual work as it will require heavy human
intervention, it was too reliant on humans to verify and clear even before a ticket is booked.
Tracy (2021), wrote in a journal about a railway traffic management system being carried out
by the European Union Space Program Agency. The tracking system is going to be a cost
efficient solution based on satellite technology, together with other sensors and data.
P. Lapamonpinyo et all (2022). A Case Study with Amtrak Passenger Train Routes, in IEEE
Open Journal of intelligent Transportation systems, proposed to model real-time passenger
train delay prediction using three Machine Learning techniques: random forest (RF), gradient
boosting machine(GBM), and multi-layer perceptron(MLP) for Amtrak by using different
types of endogenous and exogenous data from several sources from 2008 to 2019. Firstly, it
proposes and compares two data input structures: a real time based data frame structure and a
real time with historical based data. Secondly, it evaluates the significance of past profiles,
ridership, population, day of the week, infrastructure and geography as well as weather
information.
Wahyu et all (2022). Designed a system of Railway Tracking and Speed Monitoring System
Based on Global Positioning System (GPS) – Embedded Microcontroller and tested a desktop
based application that can receive GPS data in the form of latitude, longitude and train speed
in real-time every second by setting interval on the program software. The application can
also retrieve data from the database which is then used for a comparative process between the
GPS data and reference data so that the software is able to display safety status information
from two preset conditions. The designed system can also display or send information such as
position, speed, status, and time visually to the operational center when the train is operating
in real time. The system can also be integrated into third party software or broker to also
monitor the position of the train in real time with auto refresh on the tracking display every 1
second.
Pradeep (2023), Developed a real time train tracking system on GitHub that is capable of
spotting real time position and timing of train with automated announcement inside the train
for passenger assistance. The system allows train was tracked in real time on google map and
also provides additional facilities for passengers to track train using SMS services. The
application was tested in real time on a 2-hour train journey using GPS location information
mimicking a real time train journey from a part of India to another using the developed
software.
SUMMARY OF REVIEWED RELATED WORKS
S/ AUTHORS WORK DONE STRENGTH WEAKNESS
N
1 Altexsoft Development of a Incorporates multichannel Not user friendly, was
(2009) system that drives distribution, with a train not easy to manage and
Online Train Bookings booking engine that has proved difficult to
using an extranet and an inventory management, fare maintain.
application and price generation, seat
programming interface optimization, Information
(API) technology. sharing, customer profile
management and an
advanced search capability.
2 N. K. Das et Designed and This is an accurate, reliable,
all (2009) Implemented a Satellite precise, up-to-date and
Based Train Monitoring structured geospatial data
System with GPS- which is key for decision
GSM/GPRS device. making.
3 Andhra (2011) Development of a The process of booking an E- Although it poses to be a
system for advance Ticket was made easy, 24 hours’ service, it was
reservation Through simple, user friendly and not always available
Internet convenient. This system either due to system error
made it possible in India that or network or a web
E-ticket holders are error. It was over reliant
permitted to travel without on the world wide web
printout of ticket and can for adequate
travel with SMS sent by performance.
ITCTC along with valid
Photo ID proof.
4 Chandra Proposed a The system was able to The system was time
(2012) computerized passenger provide train information at consuming and often
reservation system for the center of booking. result in large cues at the
the Indian railway. The booking center as all
system was designed passengers have to come
following the software to the booking center to
development life cycle reserve their tickets.
using the waterfall
model.
5 Devyani and Developed a model of The tracking system was
Neelesh an automatic vehicle available for small sale usage
(2012) location tracker which as well as large sale use.
can track and monitor
any remote vehicle
equipped with a
software unit that
receives and transfers
signals through GPS
 satellites using Radio
Frequency Identification
(RFID)
6 Niklas et all Developed a web based The system is constituted of
(2012) New IT System for three modules which are
Monitoring Freight Real Time Tracking,
Trains On National and exchange of information on
International Routes irregularities and wagon
detachments and train run
data storage and statistics.
7 Wang (2012) Proposed a system in The system implements
the design and customer registration,
achievement of a customer cancellation, ticket
railway online ticketing inquiries, online booking,
system. online ticket refund in the
system. Real-time tickets
messages were feedback to
customers by the online
railway booking system.
8 Arshiya et all. Designed a model The system seeks to address The system was not
(2013) system called Advanced problems such as accidents, available to all, the
train control system arrivals of trains, provides system was set up only
(ATCS) that monitors real time position and speed for train drivers and
the Speed and Position of the moving train. control operators in the
Control of Train System train. The system was not
Using GPS accessible by passengers
in the train.

9 Kumar et all. Proposed a new The cards are small, very The proposed system was
(2013) technique for ticketing secured, can't be read, very effective but the
system in railway by use copied, manipulated with, cost of implementing the
of smart cards. counterfeited or duplicated. system was very high.
The cards protect privacy Ticket cancelling was not
where needed. The Smart included in this system.
cards are re-writable and can
be recharged thousands of
times. They contain digital
log with location, date, time,
person's stamp to record
every transaction.
10 Mohd et all. Proposed the Fast response teams and
(2013) development of a web recovery teams if any
based tracking and railway disaster happens and
monitoring system that it curbs problems such as
 utilizes the features of time wasting for the users as
web technology in well.
railway industry.
11 Brakewood et Made a research aimed Mobile ticketing offers riders A setback the
all (2014) to assess the level of a more convenient purchase development pose was
demand for mobile method than prepayment at the inability of some of
payments by train riders ticket windows or vending the drivers and
giving interest in mobile machines and is less passengers to operate the
payments and also problematic (for both the mobile ticketing app or
develop a simple customer and operator) than make purchase from their
methodology that onboard cash transactions. mobile devices.
Forecasts Mobile
Ticketing Adoption on
Commuter Rail.
12 Hossam Proposed a Model for This system allows the
(2014) Radio Frequency deployment of
Systems to Tracking communication and tracking
Trains via GPS systems with a minimum
cost both in maintenance and
infrastructure. The system is
able to not only
communicate with the train
but also locate it with great
precision in real time.
13 Muhammad Developed an Online The system is very simple in The payment system for
(2015) Train Reservation design, it requires very low booking of the ticket was
System. The project system resources and the not properly sorted out as
methodology used in the system works in almost all the payment platform
development of this configurations. Availability would most times accept
system is the System of seats can be enquired payment without
Development Life Cycle easily, Minimum time remitting to the ticketing
(SDLC) using HTML, needed for the various department to proceed
Java and PHP-MYSQL. processing, it also provides and issue tickets.
better Service.
14 Pintu et all. Proposed a Railway The handling of data and The system is limited in
(2015) Reservation System that records for a vast system is a such a way that a train
computerizes the data of very complex task if done starting from a particular
train reservations. manually but it was made source will have a single
much easier as the system is destination.
computerized.
15 Godson et all Proposed a Smart This model enabled the The system was
(2017) Ticketing System for authorities to detect those expensive.
Railways in Smart commuters who never pay
Cities Using Software and buy or fail to carry their
 As a Service tickets or pass while
Architecture travelling. The proposed
system also has features like
crowd analysis and
suggesting cost effective
offers to the railway
commuters.
16 Lalit And Reviewed how staffs The staffs still found a
Rajeev (2017) working in the railway way to maneuver their
ticketing offices have way around it and
issued tickets illegally avoided proper recording
and proposed a way of and ticketing.
stopping that. The work-
study was confined to
review the effective and
economical utilization
of Reservation staff
workers.
17 Mallikarjuna Did a survey on the The article described the
et all (2018) Enhancement of passenger ticket generation,
Railway Reservation ticket validation, with
System Using Internet Unique Identification
of Things Authority of India (UIDAI)
under the smart train
transportation the vision of
India 2022 and the
experimental result proved
that IoT system is effective
than well-known systems.
18 Nazish and Proposed to design and It was able to track trains
Sanobar develop a Real Time anytime from any location.
(2018) Tracking and When the train is running on
Monitoring System for track and the drivers motion
Train based on the is not detected, the system
integration of GPS AND sends an alert to the station
GSM modules linked stating that “the drivers
with Arduino board. movement is not detected”.
19 Anindra Proposed an Online The passengers are provided This system increased
(2020) Train Reservation all necessary information manual work as it will
System using location about the location of train, require heavy human
identification services confirmation of ticket; if it is intervention, it was too
and finger print in waiting by the PNR reliant on humans to
verification. number. The system was also verify and clear even
able to cancel a reserved before a ticket is booked.
ticket online.
20 Tracy Wrote a journal about a The tracking system was a
railway traffic cost efficient solution based
(2021)
management system on satellite technology,
being carried out by the together with other sensors
European Union Space and data.
Program Agency.
21 P. Proposed to model real- It evaluates the significance
Lapamonpinyo time passenger train of past profiles, ridership,
et all (2022) delay prediction using population, day of the week,
three Machine Learning infrastructure and geography
techniques: random as well as weather
forest (RF), gradient information
boosting
machine(GBM), and
multi-layer
perceptron(MLP)
22 Wahyu et all Designed a system of The application was able to
(2022) Railway Tracking and retrieve data from the
Speed Monitoring database which is then used
System Based on Global for a comparative process
Positioning System between the GPS data and
(GPS) – Embedded reference data so that the
Microcontroller software is able to display
safety status information
from two preset conditions.
The designed system can
also display or send
information such as position,
speed, status, and time
visually to the operational
center when the train is
operating in real time.
23 Pradeep, J. Developed a real time The system allows train was
(2023) train tracking system on tracked in real time on
GitHub. google map and also
provides additional facilities
GPS-GSM-Based-Real-
for passengers to track train
 Time-Tracking-system using SMS services

CONCLUSION

Although several works have been done on rail monitoring and train reservation using several

approaches as listed above. However, this system proposes a monitoring system using Global

Positioning System (GPS) via the process of trilateration with Google location and a

reservation system applying the waterfall model of the System Development Life Cycle

(SDLC) using HTML, Java and PHP-MYSQL. A software will be built with these

Programming languages and both the tracking and reservation system will be made possible

via the designed software.

CHAPTER 3
3.1 NIGERIAN RAILWAY SYSTEM
Railways stand for modernity, no competing form of transport, technological innovation or
industry has wrought change on the scale brought about by the invention and adoption of the
railway. It led to developing timetables in our lives and railway stations were a major
attraction around which towns developed. Prior to the development of modern highways and
airports in Nigeria, railway was the only means to travel efficiently and move goods from one
point to another. It also paved the way for the modest development that was witnessed from
the colonial times to the early 1970s (Joshua, 2000). The importance of railway is once again
becoming glaring and paramount, as the highways are not only getting congested and
dangerous but the rising cost of fuel is making it less efficient and uneconomical to move
persons and goods. Railway transport in Nigeria is inefficient and has hardly developed at all
over the past 100 years compared to railways in the developed world where policies are
lenient and process of boarding or booking/reservation is within a fingertip. Inefficiency of
the railway system is due to both maladministration by successive governments and to the
lack of a functional transport policy ensuring a constant pattern of railway development. The
100% ownership by the national government has contributed greatly to this neglect (Joshua,
2000). Today, reservation and monitoring systems have developed into being computerized
which are of mission critical to the entire transport industry i.e. airline, railways etc.,
(Winston, 1995)
3.2. ONLINE BOOKING/RESERVATION.

According to (Ainin & Mohezar, 2008), widespread use of Internet has led to the emergence
of a variety of electronic services, e-services (e.g. e-ticket, e-payment, e-commerce, e-
learning etc.) Electronic ticket, or e-ticket, is an example of such a class of e-services. E-
tickets give evidence to their holders to have permission to enter a place of entertainment, use
a means of transportation, or have access to some Internet services. Users can get the e-
tickets by purchasing them from a web server, or simply receiving from a vendor, or from
another user who previously acquired them. E-tickets can be stored in desktop computers,
smart phones or personal digital assistants for future use. For some cases, E-tickets are
nontransferable example airline e-ticket, it has to be validated to prevent duplication, and
ensure authenticity and integrity. A user first has to relay it to server for validation before
using an e-ticket.

3.3 RESERVATION INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The online reservations system was one of the earliest changes to improve efficiency in the
transport industry. Transport Reservation System eventually evolved into the computer
reservations system (CRS). Train Reservations System (TRS) is a computerized system used
to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to Rail travel. The systems
was originally designed and operated by airlines, but were later extended for the use of other
transportation means. (Wikipedia, 2012). Major online reservation system operations that
book and sell tickets for multiple transport industries are known as Global Distribution
Systems (GDS). Transportation industry has divested most of their direct holdings to
dedicated GDS companies, who make their systems accessible to consumers through Internet
gateways. Modern Global Distribution Systems typically allow users to book hotel rooms and
rental cars as well as airline tickets (Wardell & David 1991) Modern Global Distribution
Systems typically allow users to book hotel rooms, rental cars, airline tickets as well as train
ticket (Wardell, 1991). Global Distribution Systems (GDS) is a worldwide computerized
reservation network used as a single point of access for reserving train ticket, airline seats,
hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items by travel agents, online reservation
sites, and large corporations. The premier global distribution systems are Amadeus, Galileo,
Sabre, and World span. They are owned and operated as joint ventures by major rail
companies, airlines, car rental companies, and hotel groups.
3.3.1 Components of Reservation Information Systems
These are complete Information Technology subsystems that make the reservation
Information System operational; they are compatible in nature and the failure of one
component may affect the operation of the others with in the system. They consist of
computer resources, data, people, and procedures used in the modern transport companies.

3.3.2 HARDWARE
This is defines as individual physical devices and material used in information processing.
Specifically, it includes not only machines like computers but also data media i.e. all tangible
objects on which data are recorded from sheets of paper to magnetic disks. Others include
keyboards, mouse, printers, scanners etc. (O‟Brien, 2001).

3.3.3 SOFTWARE

Rochester et al. (1996) assert that software includes all sets of information processing
instructions and it comprises of different types of programs that enable the hardware to
carryout different tasks. Software is further categorized into system software and
Applications software. System software is concerned with keeping the computer system
working while Application software is the general purpose or written for a specific task like
stock control. Itmay be written using a programming language or more general purpose piece
of software such as database.

3.3.4 DATA

Rochester (1996), defines data as all raw and unprocessed facts that can readily be used.
Clearly no database system can exist without data. The basic factor upon an organizations
processing and information needs are founded. Data elements and relationships must be
precisely defined and the definitions must be accurately recorded in the data dictionary.

3.3.5 PEOPLE

According to (O‟Brien, 2001), these are required for the operation of all information systems.
They include end-users and information system specialists. End-users are people who use an
Information System. The reservation information system specialists help in the development
and operation of information system. They include system analysts, programmers, computer
operators and others. People, are probably the component that most influence the success or
failure of information systems.
3.3.6 PROCEDURES

These are set of instruction about how to combine the above components in order to process
the information and generate the desired output. They consist of the way how to log on to the
DBMS, use of different forms and manipulations throughout the project.

3.3.7 DATABASE

Wells (2002) defined Database is a collection of non-redundant data, which can be shared by
different application systems. Or database is a collection of data as well as programs required
to manage that data. According to Merril Wells the importance of data has been obvious from
time immemorial. Before the advent of computers, this was written in books or registers;
these could be considered as manual‟ databases. Ever since computers were introduced as a
means of sorting data, the concept and structure of a database have undergone a sea change.
Database creation and maintenance is a gradual and continuous procedure being influenced
by system software such as database management systems. Database users state their
requirements to the database using the data definition languages (DDL) and the data
manipulation languages (DML) via the database management systems. The database
management system surely provides an interface between the users programs and contents of
the data base. During the creation and subsequent maintenance of the data base contents, the
DDL and the DML are used for the following, add new files, expand the database, delete the
absolute records, adjust data, and expand the database capacity, link up the data items and
many others.