Proposed models to calculate and optimise line capacity under different operation conditions for Egyptian railway network

Diana Rahoma,Akram Kotb,Ali Heikal,N Haytham

doi:10.5937/jaes0-27821

Abstract

The capacity evaluation models are planning tools that help government agencies to maximize the benefit from existing railway infrastructure and improve rail transportation operations. These models determine the maximum number of trains that could operate on a given railway infrastructure, during a specific time interval under operational conditions. This paper develops analytical models to calculate the railway line capacity using a regression analysis based on the Egyptian official timetable. The Egyptian railway network consists of 104 links under different operation conditions (passenger / freight, passenger and freight trains) with mechanical or electrical signals systems running on single or double tracks. To calculate railway practical capacity, the three equations for each operation conditions were improved by the combination of the longest block section and passenger and freight speed. These equations have accepted value of the coefficient of determination and the absolute average error. Finally the maximum capacity is obtained by the optimum values of effective factors using iteration technique. This optimum values will increased about 80% of the capacity for Egyptian network lines.

Highlights

Railway capacity analysis is the most significant concern of railway operators that needs an extensive planning and optimizing the use of limited resources
The objectives were divided into two stages: First stage: Creating mathematical models for predicting railway practical capacity using several influencing factors and based on the Egyptian national railway (ENR)
There are three types of links according to the number of passenger and freight trains running on them: links for passenger and freight trains (P/F), only for passenger trains (P) and only for freight trains (F)

Summary

Introduction

Railway capacity analysis is the most significant concern of railway operators that needs an extensive planning and optimizing the use of limited resources. UIC is defined the capacity as the maximum number of trains traversing a specific part of the rail during a given time period at a fixed level of service [2]. Theoretical capacity is the number of train runs over a line per day under ideal conditions which is easy to generate and useful for long term strategic goals. While practical capacity is the practical limit of actual traffic volume that can be moved on a line under defined performance which is estimated as 75% of the theoretical capacity because of real world limitations. It is important for operational stages [3], [4]

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Conclusion