Multi machine approaches for conflict resolution under moving block signalling

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

M.L. Janssens Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

V. Reppa Transport Engineering and Logistics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (supervisor 1)
E. Quaglietta Transport and Planning - CEG (supervisor 1)
R.R. Negenborn Transport Engineering and Logistics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (supervisor 2)
R.M.P. Goverde Transport and Planning - CEG (supervisor 2)
Dick Middelkoop (coach)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Mathilde Janssens
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Published Date

23-02-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Railway networks are to play an increasingly large role in European transportation. This has boosted the urgency of railway innovations, of which the development of decision support systems for conflict resolution is an important aspect. This research contributes to this development by formulating a suitable mathematical approach for railway networks equipped with moving block signalling systems. Two dispatching actions to reschedule trains are applied, namely retiming and reordering. The designed approach is an extension to an existing method, based on graph theory, that is able to reschedule trains in case of conflict. The novel method uses additional node- and arc types in order to ensure moving block suitability. The new node type enables the possibility to create nodes that are related to trains, rather than infrastructure. The new arc type ensures a continuously safe time interval between two trains in the absence of trackside signals. An optimization problem, with the objective of minimizing the maximum propagated delay, is formulated. Hereafter, the performance is evaluated by a case study in the Rotterdam-The Hague corridor. According to the experimental results, the designed model is able to reduce delay propagation up to 50% for the majority of input situations within 10 seconds of computation time. Overall, the designed method shows promising results, but further research will be necessary to make it applicable in practice.