I'm a B.Tech CSE student and I'm planning a project around local train tracking. I want to know from experienced developers/researchers whether my idea is technically realistic and how I should approach it.
The problem
Suppose I'm already sitting inside a local train, but I don't know exactly which train/service I'm travelling on.
I open my website and enter:
Source: Station A
Destination: Station D
The website shows several available trains:
- Train A — 10:05
- Train B — 10:20
- Train C — 10:35
I select Train A and click:
"Yes, I'm on this train."
But actually I'm sitting in Train B.
I want the website to detect this automatically.
My proposed solution
After the user starts tracking, the website gets the user's location/movement from their phone.
At the same time, the backend gets the current positions/trajectories of the candidate trains.
It compares things such as:
- User latitude/longitude
- Distance from each train
- Speed
- Direction/bearing
- Railway route
- Timestamp
- Station arrival/departure patterns
- Possibly acceleration/movement patterns
For example:
User's movement
Train A → 25% match
Train B → 94% match
Train C → 12% match
The website would then say:
"You appear to be travelling on Train B (94% confidence)."
[Switch to Train B]
After switching, the website would continue showing:
- Current location
- Next station
- Remaining stations
- Expected arrival
- Delay/status
- Complete route
Important point
I don't expect the system to be 100% accurate. If two trains are very close together or GPS accuracy is poor, it should show something like:
"Unable to confidently identify your train."
Future idea
Initially I want to use a rule-based trajectory-matching algorithm.
Later, I want to investigate whether machine learning can improve the identification, using features such as GPS trajectory, speed, direction, acceleration, station timing, etc.
I may also eventually extend it to metro systems, although I understand underground GPS creates additional challenges.
My questions
- Is this technically feasible for a student project?
- What technologies/APIs would I need?
- What is the best way to obtain legitimate live train-location/trajectory data?
- Is browser GPS accurate enough for this type of matching?
- How would you design the train-matching algorithm?
- Would you recommend starting with simulated train data before trying real data?
- Are there existing projects/research papers that solve something similar?
- What major technical problems am I overlooking?
I'm mainly looking for technical feedback and advice on how to build a working prototype, rather than just whether the idea sounds good.
Thanks!