The easiest and fastest way to get started is with the example scenario.

Download the Input Files

The input files on the Resources page are examples that are also convenient to use as templates. They are simple csv files editable in Excel. Download them and save them locally. Or click the button below to download the full set as a zip file.

Download Input Files Zip

Set up your agent if you want it to guide you and manage the scenario resolution process.

What are "Connectors" and "skills"and why would I want them?

A connector allows your AI assistant to directly control Traxim to create, validate, and run rail timetable simulations, and retrieve results — without leaving your conversation.

‍Connector URL: https://tools.traximrail.com/api/agent/mcp

‍Add a custom connector in any MCP-compatible assistant by pasting the URL above into the URL field. No client ID or secret is needed — leave those fields blank.

A skill is a small package of instructions that teaches an AI assistant how to do something well — in this case, everything about setting up, running, and troubleshooting a Traxim simulation, plus the theory behind why Traxim behaves the way it does, and the exact syntax of each input file.

Without it, an assistant can still call the connector's tools, but it's working from guesswork about what Traxim actually needs. With it, the assistant has the same grounding an experienced Traxim user has — which shows up in the quality of the advice and edits it gives you, not just whether the tool calls succeed.

‍Installing it: download the skill file using the link below and add it to whichever AI surface you use, like Claude Cowork or Visual Studio Code for Agents. Note that some AI products only offer skills on a paid plan.

‍Keeping it current: Skills don't auto-update. This one notes its own version date near the top of the file — check back here occasionally, and if there's a newer one, just re-download and reinstall the same way.

Download Skill

Getting started: the first time you use it, your assistant will ask you to sign in. You'll get an email with a magic link — click it, then confirm on the billing settings page that follows (the same login as the Traxim Controller web app). Once confirmed, your assistant can create and manage scenarios on your behalf.

Try asking your assistant:
‍"Set up a new Traxim scenario from these CSV files and validate it."
"Run a single perturbation on my [scenario name] scenario and check it looks sensible before I commit to a full batch."
"I want to compare two versions of train prioritisation — how should I set up the scenarios so the comparison is fair?"
"Download my simulation results."

Or proceed on your own straight to modelling.

Create a Scenario

The Traxim Controller is the place where you manage the scenario creation and simulation process. Click on the link below to open the controller in a new tab. You can use the controller as a guest, or enter an email address to create an account so we can keep track of your work and keep it private. Log-in is by way of a magic link sent to your email address, so you don't need to keep track of password details.

To create a scenario, drag and drop the input files to the correct fields. Geometry and Tractive Effort files need to go into a folder on your local drive. If you downloaded the zip, they will already be there. Otherwise, create folders and put the individual files (three of each) into the folders. Naming isn't functionally important. Change settings if you want, or you can leave the defaults. When you are ready, click on the Save Scenario As button and give your scenario a name.

Open Traxim Controller

Validate Your Scenario

Now go to the Simulation Management panel. Select your file from the dropdown, and click Validate. The Console Output panel will tell you what's happening. Validating the example scenario should take less than a minute. When you can see that the validation is complete, your results will be available to download by clicking the Download Results button.

View Your Train Plan

One of the available downloads will be the train graph as a .json.gz file. You can view this on the Traxim Train Graph Viewer. Open the Viewer by clicking the button below. From the dropdown in the top right corner, select Local File, navigate to where you saved the downloaded .json.gz, and click to open it. At this stage the timetable is unresolved, that is, trains are still in conflict with each other.

Open Train Graph Viewer

Resolve Your Scenario

If there are no issues with the validation (and since you're using the example files, we'd hope there isn't), now choose the Submit button. A dialog box will advise the price to resolve the scenario. During beta testing Traxim is free and this is advisory only. Click Ok to proceed to resolve the timetable. Again you will see what's happening in the control panel. The resolve process will take a little longer than validation. Once finished, your outputs will be available to download. You can look at the statistics for the scenario in the csv files, and the resolved train plan as either a pdf, or for the .json.gz, in the Traxim Train Graph Viewer.

Now use the example files as templates to build your own scenario.

Make Some Changes

A good place to start experimenting is with the Train Plan file. Open it in Excel. Modify some train details like start or end location, entry time, train priority, or train length and weight, or ask your agent to do it for you. If you create an invalid train, like one without a path from the start to end location, or with insufficient power for the grades, this will get picked-up in the validation process. As files are edited locally, you need to remember to create a new scenario, or modify an existing one, before rerunning the simulation. You or your agent can reopen an existing scenario and substitute one or more files, or change settings. Then choose Save Scenario As. You can give it a new name, or use an existing name if you're happy to overwrite the old scenario.

Modify the Network

Your next experiment could be to modify the network. This can be done in the Infrastructure.csv file, but it's a lot easier in the Network Editor. Open the Editor from the button below, and open the infrastructure file by clicking on Choose File in the top left and navigating to where you saved it. Maybe you might add some additional crossing loops. When you are done, choose Save As to give the modified infrastructure a new name. Try validating and resolving the new scenario. Note that due to the complex topology involved in the infrastructure configuration, your agent will not be in a position to provide much support in this area.

Open Network Editor

Analyse and Compare Two Scenarios

Once you feel you've mastered the basics, you might want to do a test to compare two scenarios.  Submit your scenario with the Perturbations input set to the number of unique timetables you want to generate. 30 is the default number for statistical validity, but if you're a bit impatient, 10 will usually get you close. Depending on the size and complexity of the scenario, even 10 perturbations could take over half an hour. Once you can see in the Output Console that the simulation is complete, choose the Aggregate button. This will read and analyse the population of results, and generate result files for download.

Generate track geometry and infrastructure files for your network

Use the Network File Generator function in the Centerline tool to automatically generate the track geometry and infrastructure input files for a network you want to model. This gives you a solid platform to start building out the full input file set for your simulation.

Use the Resources, or Contact Us

There are a number of documents on the Resources page to help you get a grasp of the software and best practice use.  Also feel free to contact us if you are experiencing issues or have questions.