Abstract
In real operation, railway traffic always deviates from schedule due to exogenous disturbances and disruptions, and these deviations may cause a domino effect over the whole network. Therefore, evaluating and predicting the influence of these disturbances is of significance in train operation and dispatching. Delay is a commonly used performance indicator to describe degree of these deviations, and it may propagate to other trains. The main cause of delay is the overtime occupation on exclusive blocks. However, hindrance, which evaluates the performance of railway operation from the perspective of infrastructure occupancy, is seldom studied. In this paper, a systematical description and calculation of hindrance in railway systems is introduced from the perspective of infrastructure occupancy based on blocking time theory. The railway network was modeled as several exclusive components with running directions. Based on the precedence order and length of occupancy on conflicting infrastructure components, a sequential hindrance propagation process was identified. The proposed methods were demonstrated through the case of a reference network based on railway simulations. A relationship between the overall influence of hindrance and the length of hindrance was investigated for each infrastructure component, using statistical techniques. The results proved a clear positive relationship between the overall influence of a hindrance and its length. In addition, this relationship is affected by the location of infrastructure and amount of traffic flow in the network.
Highlights
Railway is an important and irreplaceable mode of transportation due to its peculiar characteristic: high energy efficiency in handling large masses, at middle and far distances, high operation speed, comprehensive safety system, and less action to climate
Service quality is an important issue to be considered in railway operation
Due to continuous execution of timetable, the hindrance may propagate to other trains, create consecutive hindrance in railway network, and lead to delay if headways between trains are not long enough, which greatly reduces the service quality
Summary
Railway is an important and irreplaceable mode of transportation due to its peculiar characteristic: high energy efficiency in handling large masses, at middle and far distances, high operation speed, comprehensive safety system, and less action to climate. Unforeseen event may occur during actual operation, such as failures of rolling stocks, extended dwell times due to larger flow of passengers, speed restrictions due to infrastructure breakdowns or adverse weather, and so on These events may lead to operation deviations from scheduled plan and conflicts between trains. Hindrance is defined as the waiting time that arises when an infrastructure component is requested by more than one train at the same time, according to DB Richtlinie 405, which is proposed by DB Netz AG regarding to track capacity (Fahrwegkapazität) It is a microscope description of operation deviations with the scheduled plan based on microscope modeling of infrastructure. Due to continuous execution of timetable, the hindrance may propagate to other trains, create consecutive hindrance in railway network, and lead to delay if headways between trains are not long enough, which greatly reduces the service quality. FFoorr tthhee rriissee aanndd pprrooppaaggaattiioonn ooff hhiinnddrraannccee iinn ootthheerr sscceennaarriiooss,, tthhee ssaammee aannaallyyttiiccaall mmeetthhoodd ccaann bbee eemmppllooyyeedd
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