How to Balance the Relationship between Train Formation and Service Frequency

Abstract

The paper addresses how to balance the relationship between train formation and service frequency. The authors take intercity through transport as the study object because the train plan is simplified to these two parts only. Based on the analysis of passengers' generalized travel expense, the law of boarding choice under the condition of the generalized travel cost is found. The law states that the distribution of the expected boarding time of passengers on every train is sequential, continuous, and symmetric and the attractiveness range of each train is uniform. A maximum system-profit model with elastic demand is solved by an analytic method. A numerical example is provided to show the effects of train formation and service frequency on passenger demand and objective functions.