Abstract
The importance of a mobility system based on railway technology as the backbone of public transport is now widely acknowledged. Indeed, rail systems are green, high performing, smart and able to ensure a high degree of safety. Therefore, modal split should be steered towards rail transport by increasing the attractiveness of this transport mode. In this context, a key element is represented by the timetabling design phase, which must aim to guarantee an appropriate degree of robustness of rail operations in order to ensure a high degree of system reliability and increase service quality. A crucial factor in the task of timetabling entails evaluating dwell times at stations. The innovative feature of this paper is the analytical definition of dwell times as flow dependent. Our proposal is based on estimating dwell times according to the crowding level at platforms and related interaction between passengers and the rail service in terms of user behaviour when a train arrives. An application in the case of a real metro system is provided in order to show the feasibility of the proposed approach.
Highlights
The key role of the timetabling design phase in rail transport management lies in the fact that the results of this planning task have a direct impact on service quality, on passenger satisfaction [1]
A key element is represented by the timetabling design phase, which must aim to guarantee an appropriate degree of robustness of rail operations in order to ensure a high degree of system reliability and increase service quality
Mass transit agencies may adopt a statistical approach for determining dwell times as a function of confidence degrees, the planning phase is implemented when the service is not yet in operation, and there are no available data for implementing such procedures
Summary
The key role of the timetabling design phase in rail transport management lies in the fact that the results of this planning task have a direct impact on service quality, on passenger satisfaction [1]. 2. Given the close relationship between dwell times, the timetable and reliability of rail service [45, 46], together with the need to evaluate boarding and alighting times as a function of passenger flows, the majority of contributions in the literature have concentrated on dwell time estimation in the planning phase: [47] focused on the definition of run times and station dwell times in order to minimise transfer waiting times, while [48] analysed the possibility of adjusting dwell times so as to increase station capacity. Some have proposed models for managing disruptions [49] and real-time rescheduling tasks [50], or even making more effective energy-saving measures [51] In this context, this paper proposes a methodology whose aim is to support the timetabling planning process by providing an accurate estimation of train dwell times at stations, so as to increase timetabling robustness and rail service reliability.
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