Impact of Timetable Structure on the Capacity of Rail Corridors

Railway timetabling in Europe is seeing a shift towards passenger-centered, connection-optimized network timetables with synchronized train stops in major nodes. This yields a change in the structural properties of timetables affecting capacity utilization and robustness on corridors. This paper analyzes the effects resulting from this new timetabling paradigm by assessing the effect of structural features of timetables on the capacity of rail corridors. Building on a heuristic timetable-ensemble generation approach, we study timetables with different structural properties. Timetable features quantifying service characteristics are defined and assessed with respect to their impact on timetable stability using Kendall’s correlation and regression. Two important subclasses of timetables, periodic timetables with a regular repetitive train pattern and integrated (timed-transfer) timetables, are directly compared and evaluated. It is found that, for the ensemble of 3106 timetables, running time margins are the dominant aspect for stability on corridors, in particular when converting the timetable to timed-transfer timetables on an existing, not travel-time optimized infrastructure. The results suggest that, with the tendency towards more structured timetables, running time supplements rather than highly constrained buffer times should receive increased attention in capacity assessment and dimensioning of service concepts on rail corridors.      «

Railway timetabling in Europe is seeing a shift towards passenger-centered, connection-optimized network timetables with synchronized train stops in major nodes. This yields a change in the structural properties of timetables affecting capacity utilization and robustness on corridors. This paper analyzes the effects resulting from this new timetabling paradigm by assessing the effect of structural features of timetables on the capacity of rail corridors. Building on a heuristic timetable-ensembl...     »