Railway Capacity Management and Planning

Railway Capacity Management and Planning
Author: Steven S. Harrod
Publisher:
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2007
Genre:
ISBN:

This research presents a novel model of the railway master scheduling problem, applies it to a theoretical study of railway line capacity under representative conditions, and offers a method for applying this model to practical railway scheduling problems. Contemporary market demands for different classes of rail transportation service are not adequately served because of the inability to assess the cost to the network of disparate services, as well as the inability to determine optimal scheduling. Disputes over cost and scheduling also arise between entities managing disparate services that must share common infrastructure. This new model represents railway schedules as binary multicommodity flows on discrete time scales, mapped on a hypergraph. The objective function calculates network value as a linear combination of viable train paths, en route delay, and destination tardiness. Studies are presented that estimate the cost of imposing a non-conforming, high speed train on an existing congested, homogeneous railway network flow. The analysis is provided for two formats of single track railway and for one common format of double track railway. A significant benefit is demonstrated when track networks are configured to allow complex train interactions that are not limited to pairwise meets and passes. In addition, a novel claim is made that under some conditions of single track operation, a higher speed non-conforming train is less costly to the network. A method is proposed and demonstrated for applying this model to a practical railway network scheduling problem. When applying the model, the primary decisions are the choice of track segment boundaries and the dimension of the discrete time unit.

Handbook of Optimization in the Railway Industry

Handbook of Optimization in the Railway Industry
Author: Ralf Borndörfer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2018-03-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319721534

This book promotes the use of mathematical optimization and operations research methods in rail transportation. The editors assembled thirteen contributions from leading scholars to present a unified voice, standardize terminology, and assess the state-of-the-art. There are three main clusters of articles, corresponding to the classical stages of the planning process: strategic, tactical, and operational. These three clusters are further subdivided into five parts which correspond to the main phases of the railway network planning process: network assessment, capacity planning, timetabling, resource planning, and operational planning. Individual chapters cover: Simulation Capacity Assessment Network Design Train Routing Robust Timetabling Event Scheduling Track Allocation Blocking Shunting Rolling Stock Crew Scheduling Dispatching Delay Propagation

Timetable Planning and Information Quality

Timetable Planning and Information Quality
Author: Ingo A. Hansen
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2010
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1845645006

The book comprises a number of research papers presented at several Computers in Railways Conferences. It has been compiled by Ingo A. Hansen, President of the International Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR) and comprises selected papers originating from different countries, such as Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The papers give an overview of the current state-of-the-art analytical approaches, methods and simulation tools for the modelling and analysis of network timetables, the distribution of train delays and real-time rescheduling of perturbed operations. The topics include e.g. railway capacity estimation according to the UIC norm 406, train punctuality analysis based on standard track occupation and clearance data, and boarding, alighting and distribution of passengers along suburban trains, as well as fast recognition and resolution of conflicts between train movements in case of disturbances by means of real-time speed adaptation, re-ordering or re-routing. The book can serve as an introduction to the theory of railway traffic, timetable design, operations analysis, simulation, safety and control for Master and PhD students from engineering faculties and professionals working in the railway industry.

Computers in Railways XIV

Computers in Railways XIV
Author: C. A. Brebbia
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 941
Release: 2014-06-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 184564767X

This book contains the 14th proceedings of the, very successful, International conference on Railway Engineering Design and Optimization (COMPRAIL 2014), which began in 1987.

Concurrent planning of railway maintenance windows and train services

Concurrent planning of railway maintenance windows and train services
Author: Tomas Lidén
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2018-11-05
Genre:
ISBN: 9176852016

Efficiency in public and freight transportation systems is of great importance for a society. Railways can other high capacity and relatively low environmental impact, but require that several technical systems are tuned and operate well. Specifically there is a tight interdependency between infrastructure and trains. The consequences are that all subsystems must be maintained and that the coordination of infrastructure activities and train operations is essential. Railway infrastructure maintenance and train services should ideally be planned together, but practice and research about railway scheduling has historically focused mainly on train operations and timetabling while maintenance planning has received less attention | and little research have considered the joint scheduling of both types of activities. Instead the traditional approach has been a sequential and iterative planning procedure, where train timetabling often has precedence over infrastructure maintenance. This thesis studies how maintenance windows, which are regular time windows reserved for maintenance work, can be dimensioned and jointly scheduled with train services in a balanced and efficient way for both maintenance contractors and train operators. Mathematical methods are used, with the aim of advancing the knowledge about quantitative methods for solving such coordination problems. The thesis contributes with new optimization models that jointly schedule maintenance windows and train services, investigates the solving efficiency of these models, and studies crucial extensions of the planning problem | primarily for the consideration of maintenance resources. Furthermore, the models are applied to, verified and validated on a demanding real-life problem instance. The main results are that integrated and optimal scheduling of maintenance windows and train services is viable for problems of practical size and importance, and that substantial maintenance cost savings can be achieved with such an integrated approach as compared to a traditional sequential planning process. The thesis consists of an introduction and overview of the research, followed by six papers which present: (1) A cost benefit model for assessment of competing capacity requests at a single location; (2) An optimization model for integrated scheduling of both maintenance windows and train services; (3) Mathematical reformulations that strengthen the optimization model; (4) Extensions for handling resource considerations and cyclic schedules; (5) A case study for a major single track line in Sweden; and (6) A mathematical study of length-restricted sequences under cyclic conditions.

Railway Engineering Design & Operation

Railway Engineering Design & Operation
Author: G. Passerini
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2021-03-10
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1784664197

Originating from presentations at the 17th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design and Operation, this volume contains selected research works on the topic. It is important to continue to update the use of advanced systems by promoting general awareness throughout the management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other emerging passenger, freight and transit systems. The included papers help to facilitate this goal and place a key focus on the applications of computer systems in advanced railway engineering. These research studies will be of interest to all those involved in the development of railways, including managers, consultants, railway engineers, designers of advanced train control systems and computer specialists.

Methods for Capacity Allocation in Deregulated Railway Markets

Methods for Capacity Allocation in Deregulated Railway Markets
Author: Abderrahman Ait Ali
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2020-10-01
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 9179297714

Faced with increasing challenges, railways around Europe have recently undergone major reforms aiming to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the railway sector. New market structures such as vertical separation, deregulation and open access can allow for reduced public expenditures, increased market competition, and more efficient railway systems. However, these structures have introduced new challenges for managing infrastructure and operations. Railway capacity allocation, previously internally performed within monopolistic national companies, are now conferred to an infrastructure manager. The manager is responsible for transparent and efficient allocation of available capacity to the different (often competing) licensed railway undertakings. This thesis aims at developing a number of methods that can help allocate capacity in a deregulated (vertically separated) railway market. It focuses on efficiency in terms of social welfare, and transparency in terms of clarity and fairness. The work is concerned with successive allocation of capacity for publicly controlled and commercial traffic within a segmented railway market. The contributions include cost benefit analysis methods that allow public transport authorities to assess the social welfare of their traffic, and create efficient schedules. The thesis also describes a market-based transparent capacity allocation where infrastructure managers price commercial train paths to solve capacity conflicts with publicly controlled traffic. Additionally, solution methods are developed to help estimate passenger demand, which is a necessary input both for resolving conflicts, and for creating efficient timetables. Future capacity allocation in deregulated markets may include solution methods from this thesis. However, further experimentations are still required to address concerns such as data, legislation and acceptability. Moreover, future works can include prototyping and pilot projects on the proposed solutions, and investigating legal and digitalisation strategies to facilitate the implementation of such solutions. Med ökande utmaningar har järnvägar runt om i Europa genomgått stora reformer som syftar till att förbättra järnvägssektorns effektivitet och konkurrenskraft. Nya marknadsstrukturer såsom vertikal separering, avreglering och öppet tillträde för flera operatörer kan möjliggöra minskade offentliga kostnader, ökad marknadskonkurrens och effektivare järnvägssystem. Denna omreglering av järnvägsmarknaderna har dock skapat nya utmaningar för hanteringen av järnvägsinfrastruktur och drift. Tilldelning av järnvägskapacitet, vilket tidigare sköttes inom nationella monopolföretag, måste nu göras av en infrastrukturförvaltare (infrastructure manager). Förvaltarens kapacitetstilldelning till olika (ofta konkurrerande) licensierade järnvägsföretag (railway undertakings) måste samtidigt vara transparent, rättvis och leda till ett effektivt kapacitetsutnyttjande. I denna avhandling utvecklas metoder som kan användas av en infrastrukturförvaltare för att tilldela kapacitet i en avreglerad järnvägsmarknad. Den fokuserar på samhällsekonomiskt effektiva utfall men även transparens, tydlighet och rättvisa. Avhandlingens bidrag omfattar samhällsekonomiska analysmetoder som gör det möjligt för regionala kollektivtrafikmyndigheter att bedöma den samhällsekonomiska effektiviteten för deras trafikering och skapa ett effektivt utbud. Med dessa metoder som utgångspunkt beskrivs en marknadsbaserad och transparent tilldelningsprocess för kapacitet där infrastrukturförvaltare prissätter kommersiella tåglägen för att lösa kapacitetskonflikter med offentligt kontrollerad trafik. Dessutom utvecklas optimeringsmetoder för att estimera passagerarefterfrågan och för att skapa effektiva tågtidtabeller. Framtida kapacitetstilldelning på avreglerade marknader kan inkludera lösningsmetoder från denna avhandling. Ytterligare experiment krävs dock fortfarande för att hantera problem såsom data, lagstiftning och godtagbarhet. Dessutom kan framtida arbete omfatta prototyper och pilotprojekt av de föreslagna lösningarna och undersöka lagliga och digitaliseringsstrategier för att underlätta implementeringen av sådana lösningar.

Computers in Railways XI

Computers in Railways XI
Author: John J. Allan
Publisher: WIT Press
Total Pages: 897
Release: 2008
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1845641264

This volume features the proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Computer System Design and Operation in the Railway and other Transit Systems. It provides the latest information on the use of computer-based techniques, and promotes a general awareness of these throughout the business management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other advanced passenger, freight and transit systems. Of interest to railway managers, consultants, railway engineers (including signal and control engineers), designers of advanced train systems and computer specialists, the proceedings will also be of interest to planners of railway network systems, manufacturers of the track, rolling stock, locomotives and other ancillary equipment and systems; who all have a common interest in the development and application of computer techniques for the solution of problems in the railway and other mass transit systems. Papers included in this volume cover the following topics: Planning; Safety and security; Passenger interface systems; Decision support systems, Computer techniques; Driverless operations; Advanced train control; Train location; Dynamic train regulations; Timetable planning; Operations quality; Communications, Energy management; Power supply; Dynamics and wheel/rail interface; Freight; Condition monitoring; Asset management; Maglev and high speed railway.