Design and operation assessment of railway stations using passenger simulation

Abstract

This paper on the design and operation assessment of railway stations using passenger simulation is from the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Computer System Design and Operation in Railways and Other Transit Systems, held in Beijing, China, in 2010. The authors present a microscopic passenger simulation model for railways that includes event planning, route choice, and behavior decision. Complex passenger behaviors are modeled, as are simple motions. The model is calibrated using field data collected from Beijing railway station and validated with software called SRAIL. The authors found that, by using input passenger characteristics, station facilities, train timetables, traffic flow rules and simulation parameters, some useful indicators can be obtained, including facility usage, delay, congestion, station egress capacity, safety and coordination of the station. The total level of service can also be evaluated. The first passenger dedicated railway station of the China Beijing South Railway station is studied as an example. The authors conclude that their model can assess station design and operation efficiently.