2013 Session: 636

• TIMETABLES OPTIMIZATION DESIGN CONSIDERING TRAIN CIRCULATION AND DISTURBANCES FOR TAIWAN HIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEM
  Abstract: Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR) system plays an important role of maintaining efficient transportation of passengers around Taiwan. However, the control mechanism between THSR and traditional railway systems is quite different. Each THSR train is governed by the THSR control center, which operates and dispatches train movements by using the train timetables. Hence, when a disaster occurs, the control center needs to prepare a rescheduled timetable in accordance with current situations so that train drivers can follow. This research proposed an optimization model that has the capability to accommodate not only basic requirements such as railway topology, traffic rules, and user requirements, but also train circulation as well. Mixed integer and dynamic programming were chosen to solve the model under the CPLEX environment. In addition, this research applied sensitivity analysis in order to identify how disturbances propagate in the original timetables and what actions to be taken in order to mitigate the impact instead of simply cancelling the trains. Assumptions as well as input and output values were configured by using real data from the THSR system, which consists of two lines, 128 services, 29 trains, and eight stations. The model has obtained a timetable result as good as the one used in the real world without consuming excessive time. Sensitivity analysis results could determine critical infrastructure and parameters that are sensitive to disturbances. Therefore, it could be a good simulation tool for predicting the effect of disruptions on the timetables and helps THSR design the disaster mitigation plan in advance.
  Authors: Firdausiyah, Nailah; Lin, Chia-Ying; Ho, Ting-Wu; Chen, Te-Che; Chou, Chien-Cheng
  Authors: Firdausiyah, Nailah; Lin, Chia-Ying; Ho, Ting-Wu; Chen, Te-Che; Chou, Chien-Cheng
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Railroads; Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-0101
• Hierarchical Decomposition Methods for Periodic Railway Timetabling Problems
  Abstract: Today many European railway networks are operating near capacity. Developing timetables for these dense and often highly congested networks is becoming increasingly difficult. Several algorithm-based approaches for solving these types of timetabling problems have been developed in recent years. However the problem size, computational complexity and lack of transparent interfaces for planners slow down adoption of these approaches in practice. This research proposes an iterative method based on train hierarchy to solve difficult periodic timetable problems. The proposed method adds a new group of trains to the schedule in each step of the process, while holding trains added in previous steps fixed within a specified time interval. The research analyzes the influence of the number of decomposition steps and time interval on computation time and timetable quality. The results show that setting parameters to a middle ground between the extremes of a purely sequential or a purely simultaneous timetable planning approach is very effective at reducing computation time while still providing optimal or close to optimal timetable solutions.
  Authors: Herrigel, Sabrina; Laumanns, Marco; Nash, Andrew; Weidmann, Ulrich Alois
  Authors: Herrigel, Sabrina; Laumanns, Marco; Nash, Andrew; Weidmann, Ulrich Alois
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Railroads; Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-0803
• Effects of Timetable-Related Service Quality on Rail Demand
  Abstract: This paper reports analysis of a very large data set of rail ticket sales data to explore how timetable related service quality impact on inter-urban rail demand. The measure of rail service quality of particular interest is here generalised journey time (GJT), a composite index composed of journey time, service headway and the need to change trains. A large scale review of previous research identified that there were a number of avenues that needed to be explored. The first of these was to determine how GJT impacts on rail demand, including interactions with distance and value for money and exploring the effects of the size and sign of the change in GJT, distinguishing between short run and long run effects. The new evidence obtained is important given concerns over elasticities currently recommended for use in the rail industry in Britain. Secondly, it is timely to consider whether the weights associated with headway and interchange in GJT are appropriate. Our analysis indicates that more influence should be attached to interchange. Finally, the rail industry in Britain’s approach of using GJT and fare is quite unique. We have tested how it compares with the more traditional approach of generalised cost and with the specification of separate elasticities to the component part of GJT. This indicates that the GJT approach is preferable to the more conventional approach although there would seem to be value in further pursuing separate elasticities to the components of GJT.
  Authors: Wardman, Mark
  Authors: Wardman, Mark
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Railroads; Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-5226
• Bound Search Algorithm and Iterative Refinements for Scheduling Extra Train Paths
  Abstract: With the aim of supporting the process of adapting railway infrastructure and future traffic needs, we have developed a method to insert additional trains efficiently in an existing timetable without large consecutive delays to scheduled trains. In this work, the problem is characterized as a job shop scheduling problem. Novel bound search strategies and an iterative reordering structure are proposed to solve this problem. Unoccupied capacities are utilized as primary resources for additional trains and necessary train connections can be guaranteed in the new timetable. From numerical investigations the proposed framework and associated techniques are tested and shown to be effective. For a certain amount of additional trains, the bounds are tight and optimal insertions could be calculated in a few seconds. For more additional trains, a moderate amount of reordering actions are sufficient to handle disturbances and the search space is reduced to solve real and complex problems efficiently.
  Authors: Tan, Yuyan
  Authors: Tan, Yuyan
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Paper
  Subject: Railroads; Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-3016
• TIMETABLES OPTIMIZATION DESIGN CONSIDERING TRAIN CIRCULATION AND DISTURBANCES FOR TAIWAN HIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEM
  Authors: Firdausiyah, Nailah
  Authors: Firdausiyah, Nailah
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-0101
• Hierarchical Decomposition Methods for Periodic Railway Timetabling Problems
  Authors: Herrigel, Sabrina
  Authors: Herrigel, Sabrina
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-0803
• Effects of Timetable-Related Service Quality on Rail Demand
  Authors: Wardman, Mark
  Authors: Wardman, Mark
  Year: 2013
  Document Type: Presentation
  Subject: Rail; Design
  Session: 636
  Paper Number: 13-5226