The use of railway simulation as an input to economic assessment of timetables

Abstract

Assessment of capacity for highly-used railways is an important and challenging task. This paper describes a method for evaluation of timetables based on capacity and economic assessment. Common methods from both fields are combined. For developing and analysing purposes, the model is first tested with historical delay data for express trains on a double-track line with dense, mixed traffic in Sweden. An assessment aiming to compare the departures is made by combining common weights for different variables. Differences in the results based on the model structure are discussed. In the second step, microscopic simulation is used to reveal delay characteristics of timetable alternatives that are then compared and discussed in a similar way to step 1.The presented method using simulation makes it possible to reveal and evaluate characteristics that are important for both timetable planning and economic analysis, for example evaluation of strategies. Timetable and delay times are important input variables that affect the travellers' choice. Using simulation and other methods from capacity planning gives the opportunity to find characteristics for analysing alternatives and improve economic evaluation, at the same time as the use of economic parameters provides more possibilities to make a relevant capacity analysis.