Israel Railways, a state-owned company under the Ministry of Transportation, operates the national heavy-rail network. With 69 stations nationwide and ≈600 trains every day, it links major metropolitan areas, cities, towns and rural communities, and hauls 10 million tons of freight a year. Yet the core operation system was an AS/400 based platform, more than 30 years old, maintained by a small team of retiring experts. It was identified as a critical bottleneck on the way to reaching 300 million train journeys by 2040.
A market scan showed no off-the-shelf product could meet Israel Railways’ unique needs, as it manages both the rail infrastructure and the rolling stock. The railway therefore turned to GIV Solutions to lead a full replacement: from tender, specification and development through implementation, integrations and organizational change.
‘Psifas’, the system developed for Israel Railways, was designed and built with 100 % fit to the organization’s requirements.
Key operational processes now managed in the system:
• Generating all mandatory train documents
• Issuing and distributing temporary restrictions
• Managing real-time changes in train movements, timetable & path changes
• End-to-end freight-division workflow (from wagon orders to cargo delivery)
• Data transfer for freight invoicing based on delivery notes
• Delay reporting and daily punctuality KPI
• ≈100 interfaces with external systems: SAP | Aramis | PIS | CRM | Passenger site and applications and more
“Israel Railways carries hundreds of thousands of passengers daily across the country. Operating it at maximum efficiency is a national mission, so lightning-fast response is critical. That’s exactly what the new system provides. Since September 2024 it has been running successfully, linked to the entire organisation and serving over a thousand users. Without it, the railway simply couldn’t run.”
Ofer Shalmon, Project Lead, Israel Railways & Senior Manager, GIV Solutions
“At the project launch, we helped the railway shape the concept and step-by-step strategy for the new system. GIV played a central expert role. Ofer Shalmon and our analysts led implementation, integrations and training.
A major hurdle was testing before go-live, so we ran sophisticated background simulations alongside the existing system until full credibility was achieved.
We’re proud to modernize the railway and propel it decades forward, and we thank the visionary leaders at Israel Railways who recognized the need, managed the risks and drove this essential change despite its scope and the system’s reach into nearly every other railway system.”
Meir Givon, President & Founder, GIV Solutions
Switching to a new operation management system without stopping a single train is exactly the type of grand challenge GIV Solutions thrives on.
Ready to propel your operations decades ahead?
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