Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 10 hrs ago
SBB tests AI to measure train crowding in real time
SBB is testing AI to measure train crowding in Switzerland and improve the estimates shown in its app.
The app currently predicts how busy a train will be using past experience and factors such as the day of the week or holiday season, so its estimates can be wrong.
The proposed system would use existing ceiling cameras to count passengers as they board and provide real-time data; its developer, Parquery, claims it can be 98% accurate.
Parquery says the system will not identify passengers or store video or photos, and will be separate from the railway’s security monitoring.
SBB describes the work as a proof of concept, and has not decided whether or when to use it; Parquery says deployment would be no earlier than 2029.
Earlier SBB camera plans faced privacy concerns, so the company says it would consult Switzerland’s federal data protection authority early if it pursues the system.
SBB is testing whether artificial intelligence can use existing security-camera video to measure how many passengers board a train in real time.
The system could replace forecasts based on past experience and factors such as the day of the week or holiday season in the SBB app.
Developer Parquery says the count could be 98 percent accurate and that the system would not identify people or store passenger video or photos.
The SBB says the project is a proof of concept and that it is unclear whether or when the system will be used.
Parquery says a final rollout would be no earlier than 2029, while testing is still under way.
- Who
- SBB is testing the system with technology from ETH spin-off Parquery.
- What
- The test assesses whether AI can count passengers boarding trains from existing security-camera video in real time.
- When
- The articles were published on November 3, 2026; a final rollout would be no earlier than 2029.
- Where
- On SBB trains in Switzerland.
- Why
- To improve train-crowding information in the SBB app.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
SBB plans to equip major stations with cameras capable of facial recognition to gather information about passenger flows, but abandons collecting customer data after privacy advocates object.
Reports describe an ongoing test of AI and existing train security-camera video to measure boarding passengers in real time.
Parquery says the system could be put into operation no earlier than 2029.
- Accuracy
- Parquery says the system could be 98 percent accurate.
- Data handling
- Parquery says passenger video and photo data would not be stored.
- Rollout
- No earlier than 2029, according to Parquery.
- Project status
- SBB describes the plans as a proof of concept and says it is unclear whether or when the system will be used.
- Earlier camera plans
- In 2023, SBB abandoned collecting customer data after privacy advocates opposed plans for facial-recognition-capable cameras at major stations.
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Es findet keine Gesichtserkennung, keine biometrische Vermessung und keinerlei Identifikation von Personen statt