Abstract
The robustness of the timetable is a sensitive issue in the daily realization of railway operations. As shown in the paper, robustness is a function of time reserves that helps to prevent unscheduled stops resulting from traffic disruptions and causing a higher energy consumption. The correct handling of time reserves while scheduling is a multidimensional issue, and it has a significant influence on the energy consumption of railway traffic. Therefore, the paper aims to show a simulation-based method, taking into account failure occurring probabilities and their consequences to get an acceptable level of robustness, that can be quantified by the probability of no delay propagation. This paper presents a method for the addition of time margins to the railway timetable. The iterative time buffer adding method is based on operational data as a knowledge source, to achieve the punctuality target. It was verified on a real railway line. An analysis of energy consumption for unscheduled train stops depending on the added buffer time was conducted after the literature review and the presentation of the evaluation model. The paper ends with discussion of the results and conclusions.
Highlights
Scheduling should be designed to make the best use of people and equipment time, the capacity of railroads used by different carriers, and the robustness of the rail transportation system to disruptions
The robustness of a timetable depends on time margins; the subject of the method is to assign time reserves
The same authors later [47] improved the optimal allocation of buffer times at railway bottlenecks such as stations and junctions to minimize weighted knock-on delays
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Increasing the level of services provided by rail carriers is related to minimizing delays. Unplanned train stops result in increased energy consumption [1]. Each disruption can lead to delays and unplanned stops. A robust timetable preventing delay propagation should cause energy savings. Increasing time reserves increases robustness but decreases network capacity. Scheduling should be designed to make the best use of people and equipment time, the capacity of railroads used by different carriers, and the robustness of the rail transportation system to disruptions. It follows the papers aim to elaborate a new simulation-based method supported by a probabilistic approach for developing robust timetables, obtaining a significant energy saving. The robustness of a timetable depends on time margins; the subject of the method is to assign time reserves
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