Analysis of safe and effective next-generation rail signalling systems

Moving Block (MB) and Virtual Coupling (VC) rail signalling will change current train operation paradigm by migrating vital equipment from trackside to onboard to reduce train separation and maintenance costs. Their actual deployment is however constrained by the industry's need to identify configurations of MB and VC signalling equipment...

Real-time railway traffic management under moving-block signalling: A literature review and research agenda

Railway traffic management is responsible for the detection and resolution of conflicts in case of disturbed operations. To minimise delay propagation, rescheduling decisions are taken by human dispatchers, possibly supported by mathematical models. Existing conflict detection and resolution (CDR) models mostly refer to conventional fixed...

A hybrid Delphi-AHP multi-criteria analysis of Moving Block and Virtual Coupling railway signalling

The railway industry needs to investigate overall impacts of next generation signalling systems such as Moving Block (MB) and Virtual Coupling (VC) to identify development strategies to face the forecasted railway demand growth. To this aim an innovative multi-criteria analysis (MCA) framework is introduced to analyse and compare VC and MB in...

Assessing Hyperloop Transport Capacity Under Moving-Block and Virtual Coupling Operations

The Hyperloop is a concept of a ground transportation system consisting of capsules traveling at very high-speeds in near-vacuum tubes. The Hyperloop aims to be a fast, cheap, and sustainable alternative to short-haul flights and high-speed rail. The small pod size requires very high frequencies to respond to future high levels of passenger...