Periodic train timetable expansion: An integrated model of multi-period train service selection and rolling stock circulation with time-varying passenger demand

The periodic train timetable is one of the most widely used train timetables in passenger railway systems worldwide. However, how to expand well-coordinated daily train services from a single-period timetable pattern is rarely studied. This paper develops a multi-objective mixed integer programming model to solve the periodic train timetable...

Conflict-free train path planning using ATO timing points

Automatic Train Operation (ATO) is a technology to support or automate train driving for increasing service punctuality, energy efficiency and rail infrastructure capacity. Conflict-free train path planning is crucial to the effective deployment of ATO, which allows ATO-equipped trains to operate according to schedule with different train...

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...

Multi-objective railway timetabling including energy-efficient train trajectory optimization

Energy-efficient train driving is an important topic to railway undertakings (RUs) for sustainability and cost reduction. The timetable affects the possibilities for energy-efficient train driving by the amount of running time supplements, which is the topic of energy-efficient train timetabling (EETT). The scientific literature on EETT...

Multi-time scale energy management framework for smart PV systems mixing fast and slow dynamics

We propose a multi-time scale energy management framework for a smart photovoltaic (PV) system that can calculate optimized schedules for battery operation, power purchases, and appliance usage. A smart PV system is a local energy community that includes several buildings and households equipped with PV panels and batteries. However, due to...

Optimal running time supplement distribution in train schedules for energy-efficient train control

Energy-efficient train driving can lead to a significant reduction in both CO₂ emissions and energy consumption. A lot of research has been done on the topic of energy-efficient train control that minimizes total traction energy consumption. Furthermore, the running time supplements in the timetable determine the possibilities for...

Resolving instability in railway timetabling problems

A significant growth of the railway transportation demand is forecasted in the next decades which needs an increase of network capacity. Where possible, infrastructure upgrading can provide extra capacity; although in some cases, this is not enough to satisfy the entire transportation demand even if optimised timetabling is performed. We...

Resolving instability in railway timetabling problems

A growth of the railway transportation demand is forecasted in the next decades which needs an increase of network capacity. Where possible, infrastructure upgrading can release extra capacity, although in some cases this is not enough to satisfy the entire transportation demand unless optimised timetabling is performed. We propose a heuristic...

Estimation of train dwell time at short stops based on track occupation event data: A study at a Dutch railway station

Train dwell time is one of the most unpredictable components of railway operations, mainly because of the varying volumes of alighting and boarding passengers. However, for reliable estimations of train running times and route conflicts on main lines, it is necessary to obtain accurate estimations of dwell times at the intermediate stops on...

Predictive modelling of running and dwell times in railway traffic

Accurate estimation of running and dwell times is important for all levels of planning and control of railway traffic. The availability of historical track occupation data with a high degree of granularity inspired a data-driven approach for estimating these process times. In this paper we present and compare the accuracy of several approaches...

Estimation of train dwell time at short stops based on track occupation event data

Train dwell time is one of the most unpredictable components of railway operations mainly due to the varying volumes of alighting and boarding passengers. For reliable estimations of train running times and route conflicts on main lines it is however necessary to obtain accurate estimations of dwell times at the intermediate stops on the main...

Optimal Management of Railway Perturbations by Means of an Integrated Support System for Real-Time Traffic Control

Automatic real-time control of railway traffic perturbations has recently received the attention of practitioners. The aim is to make use of mathematical algorithms to maintain the required service availability during unplanned disturbances to operations. In the literature many tools for real-time traffic control are proposed, but their effects...

A simulation-based optimization approach for the calibration of dynamic train speed profiles

Predictions of railway traffic are needed by planners and dispatchers for the design of robust timetables and real-time traffic management of perturbed conditions. These tasks can be effectively performed only when using train running time models which reliably describe actual speed profiles. To this purpose calibration of model parameters...

Stability of railway dispatching solutions under a stochastic and dynamic environment

In the last decade simulation models and optimization environments have been developed that are able to address the complexity of real-time railway dispatching. Nevertheless, actual implementations of these systems in practice are scarce. Essential for implementation of an advanced dispatching system is the trust of traffic controllers into a...

An online railway traffic prediction model

Prediction of train positions in time and space is required for traffic control and passenger information. However, in practice only the last measured train delays are known and dispatchers must predict the arrival times of trains without adequate computer support. This paper presents a real-time tool for continuous online prediction of train...

Rescheduling models for network-wide railway traffic management

In the last decades of railway operations research, microscopic models have been intensively studied to support traffic operators in managing their dispatching areas. However, those models result in long computation times for large and highly utilized networks. The problem of controlling country-wide traffic is still open since the coordination...

Optimal Train Dispatching at Railway Stations: A Discrete Event Dynamic System Approach

Reliability of transfers in a transportation network largely influences the level of service of trip chains. Especially in low-frequency service networks like (long-distance) railway networks. Running and dwell times are typically subject to random variations resulting in arrival delays during operation. If a scheduled transfer connection is...

Synchronization Control of Scheduled Train Services to Minimize Passenger Waiting Times

During operation a transportation service may wait on delayed feeder services to secure scheduled transfers. For low-frequent connecting services this has a major positive impact on the transfer waiting times. However, the resulting synchronization control time of the connecting service also affects the waiting times of originating and through...