Table of contents
1. Introduction
Every subpath has its own origin and destination point. Subpaths in the same territory can have different origin or destination points. PCS marks automatically the first points of a subpath in the first territory as an origin likewise all the last points of a subpath in the last territory as a destination. Read below the description of the alternative origin/destination.
1.1 Alternative origin
We talk about the alternative origin when a point serves as an origin point, but it’s not in the first territory. E.g. the train runs normally from the Netherlands, but on some days the origin is in Germany. In this case, the German point can be marked on those days (with the proper calendar of the subpath) as an alternative origin.
1.2 Alternative destination
We talk about the alternative destination when a point serves as a destination point, but it’s not in the last territory. E.g. the train runs normally to Switzerland, but on some days the destination is in Germany. In this case, the German point can be marked on those days (with the proper calendar of the subpath) as an alternative destination.
2. DEMONSTRATION
Let us show an example in a dossier with some screenshots. The train that we took as an example runs from Prague to Budapest, meaning Czechia – Slovakia – Hungary. Please check below its outline.
As you can see, the train has two origins in Czechia (Prague and Brno) and two destinations in Hungary (Budapest-Nyugati and Budapest-Keleti). As it was written above, these are detected as origins and destinations automatically by PCS. Let’s check the possibilities of the alternative options.
2.1 Alternative destination in Czechia
As Prague and Brno are anyhow origin, the only option for the Applicant in Czechia is to mark Breclav as an alternative destination. It can happen that for some reason the train on some days runs only to the border, it can be marked as an alternative destination:
Note: click the icon to set an alternative point. Click again to unselect if it is not needed.
2.2 Alternative options in Slovakia
In this situation, Slovakia has the advantage of hosting either an alternative origin or alternative destination of the train, because this territory is in the middle. It means that the user can mark either Kuty or Sturovo as an alternative if it is needed. In our example it does not make sense to mark any of it, it is just a technical demonstration of the feature.
2.3 Alternative origin in Hungary
Budapest-Nyugati and Budapest-Keleti are already destinations, but the applicant has a chance to mark the border point, Szob, as an alternative origin if it is needed then this subpath becomes only a national route.
3. Calendar consistency
Since the PCS Envelope Concept version, calendar harmonization and calendar consistency are a crucial part of the system. PCS doesn’t let the users promote the dossiers with inconsistent calendars. It means that the calendars must cover each other on both sides of the border. However, it can happen that a train has more running days on one side of the border, e.g. the examples we had in the introduction part. That is why we introduced the alternative origin/destination features to PCS.
For example, if the user prepares a subpath for day 7 in the first territory with an alternative destination, day 7 should not be covered in the neighbouring territory, because the train will stop at the border. It works in the same way with an alternative origin.
For example, an applicant can create a sub-path for the weekends with an alternative origin. It means that the train comes on the weekdays from the previous territory, but it starts in the second territory (on the alternative origin) on the weekdays.
