Railway Capacity Enhancement with Modern Signalling Systems – A Literature Review

In times of ever stronger awareness of environmental protection and potentiation of a beneficial modal split, the railway sector with efficient asset utilization and proper investment planning has the highest chance of meeting customer expectations and attracting new users more effectively. Continuous increase in railway demand leads to an increase in the utilization of railway infrastructure, and the inevitable lack of capacity, a burning problem that many national railways are continually facing. To address it more effectively, this paper reviews available methodologies for railway capacity determination and techniques for its enhancement in the recent scientific literature. Particular focus is given to the possibility of increasing railway capacity through signalling systems and installing the European Train Control System (ETCS). The most important relationships with segments of existing research have been identified, and in line with this, the directions for a potential continuation of research are suggested

Buffer Time Optimization in the Function of Timetable Stability

Timetable stability depends on the regularity of trains. Any deviation from the planned timetable leads to its instability. Railway network characteristics determine the capacities of the transport service. Depending on the capacity calculation method, time components are added to the minimum headway to ensure timetable stability. The UIC 405 method is simple and can be used on all railways. The disadvantage is that the calculations are based on average data. According to the method, the minimum headway consists of the time of the average headway interval, additional time and the buffer time. The additional time is precisely defined by the number of APB sections, while the buffer time is in the average value. When creating the timetable, the goal is optimal utilisation of the infrastructure. If the headway is too long, the capacity is not used, and if it is too short, timetable instability will ensue. Instead of averaging, this work calculates a buffer time that depends on the ratio of the travel time of the previous and the following trains. In this way, the headway is optimised and the calculation of the UIC 405 method is improved

Energy Efficiency of Railway Lines

Energy saving is necessary in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. Energy consumption is increasing, and the production capacities are limited. The three main railway segments such as: railway infrastructure, traffic management and dynamic train movement have an important impact on energy consumption for train haulage. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to determine energy consumption efficiency for train haulage, by choosing optimal construction parameters of railway lines, modern design of railway stations, optimal traffic management and energy efficient dynamic train movement. The paper gives a concrete presentation of energy consumption in all three segments of railway traffic and proposals for rationalization of energy consumption. The infrastructure managers and rail carriers should cooperate in the process of efficiency consumption of energy for train haulage. Saving of energy is a never-ending process

Scheduling of Traffic Entities Under Reduced Traffic Flow by Means of Fuzzy Logic Control

This paper presents the design of a fuzzy logic-based traffic scheduling algorithm aimed at reducing traffic congestion for the case of partial obstruction of a bidirectional traffic lane. Such a problem is typically encountered in rail traffic and personal rapid transportation systems with predefined and fixed traffic corridors. The proposed proportional-derivative (PD) fuzzy control algorithm, serving as a traffic control automaton, alternately assigns adaptive green light periods to traffic coming from each direction. The proposed fuzzy logic-based traffic controller has been compared with the conventional traffic control automaton featuring fixed-durations of green light intervals. The comparison has been carried out within a simulation environment for four different probability distributions of stochastic traffic flows at each end of the considered traffic corridor. Results have shown that the proposed fuzzy logic-based traffic controller performance is far superior to that of the conventional traffic control law in terms of achieving shorter vehicle queue lengths and less disparity in queue lengths for all considered simulation scenarios

Managing Rail Traffic on Commuter Lines Based on Dynamic Timetable Application

The increase of demand for transport service in rail commuter traffic stipulates higher ratio of consumed infrastructure capacity. In this method of traffic flow even minor deviations from the planned timetable can have negative influence on its stability, and this can result in major reduction of the quality of transport service. This research has defined the commuter rail traffic management system model with the application of real-time timetable rescheduling. It understands the application of the decision support system during the procedure of adjusting the timetable to the real condition in traffic in the form of genetic algorithm defined on the basis of the valid rules for the train and traffic control. Besides, this model in all the commuter trains understands the existence of the driver advisory system which is based on the algorithm for determination of the most favourable running regime with the aim of saving in energy consumption. The paper proves that by applying the proposed model the commuter rail traffic can be improved regarding the increase of the timetable stability and energy-efficient train operation. KEY WORDS: rail traffic management, genetic algorithm, energy efficient timetabling and train operatio

Evaluation Framework for Key Performance Indicators of Railway ITS

The aim of this study is to develop a framework for investigating a comprehensive set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the assessment of railway Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The framework is established through four main steps: (1) development of a comprehensive set of KPIs for railway ITS; (2) validation of developed KPIs and collection of judgments from experts through a Delphi questionnaire; (3) evaluation of KPIs weights for assessing railway ITS with the Group Analytical Hierarchy Process (GAHP); and (4) presentation of a SWOT analysis for the developed KPIs by the authors. The results of the framework are presented as a set of 25 indicators for evaluation of railway ITS and their impacts. The framework could be helpful for selecting KPIs of ITS in another mode of transportation. Monitoring of the contributions of ITS towards sustainable railway can be achieved by a developed set of indicators which are classified in accordance with sustainable dimensions

Location Planning Approach for Intermodal Terminals in Urban and Suburban Rail Transport

The aim of this study is to find a suitable methodology for planning the locations of intermodal terminals in an urban transit context. The location planning approach, which has been developed and makes this possible, consists of three phases. The first phase is the making of the geographic information system (GIS) database which enables determining the potential locations of intermodal terminals. For every potential location of the terminal, the number of citizens gravitating to a certain terminal is calculated, which at the same time represents the output from the first phase of the model. The second phase uses an optimization algorithm in order to determine the locations of the intermodal terminals. The optimization algorithm provides several solutions for a different number of terminals, and such solutions need to be evaluated. The main contribution of this research is in upgrading the location planning approach by introducing an additional step in assessing the solutions obtained by the optimization algorithm

Assessment and Relationship of Work Ability and the Level of Physical Activity Among Professional Bus Drivers

Numerous studies have shown that city bus drivers suffer from three key categories of health disorders: cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and musculoskeletal system issues, affecting the individual’s ability to work. The aim of this research was to assess the working ability of bus drivers and to determine the connection between the level of physical activity and the work ability in professional bus drivers. The study protocol included an assessment of participants’ work ability using the Work Ability Index (WAI) Questionnaire on a sample of 115 bus drivers. A statistical analysis was performed using the SAS System software package (SAS Institute Inc., North Carolina, USA). The questionnaire for determining the work ability index indicated good or excellent work ability in 78 (67.8%) of bus drivers. Moderate work ability that needed to be improved was recorded in 27 (23.5%) of drivers, and poor work ability that needed to be restored in 10 (8.7%). The results of the regression analysis show that increasing the average number of steps per day by a 1,000 increases the WAI score by 0.8. The obtained data should serve as an important argument for the design of future public health and kinesiology interventions to improve the work ability in professional bus drivers

Damping Optimum-Based Design of Control Strategy Suitable for Battery/Ultracapacitor Electric Vehicles

This contribution outlines the design of electric vehicle direct-current (DC) bus control system supplied by a battery/ultracapacitor hybrid energy storage system, and its coordination with the fully electrified vehicle driveline control system. The control strategy features an upper-level DC bus voltage feedback controller and a direct load compensator for stiff tracking of variable (speed-dependent) voltage target. The inner control level, comprising dedicated battery and ultracapacitor current controllers, is commanded by an intermediate-level control scheme which dynamically distributes the upper-level current command between the ultracapacitor and the battery energy storage systems. The feedback control system is designed and analytical expressions for feedback controller parameters are obtained by using the damping optimum criterion. The proposed methodology is verified by means of simulations and experimentally for different realistic operating regimes, including electric vehicle DC bus load step change, hybrid energy storage system charging/discharging, and electric vehicle driveline subject to New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), Urban Driving Dynamometer Schedule (UDDS), New York Certification Cycle (NYCC) and California Unified Cycle (LA92), as well as for abrupt acceleration/deceleration regimes

Optimizing Track Infrastructure Availability

Failure to realize the schedule which is primarily reflected in train delays is the direct consequence of insufficient availability of capacities of the current railway infrastructure which are generated by low level of usable quality of the track network in general. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to determine the method of optimal interventions of the rail infrastructure managers and traffic control activities on the reduction of the influence of slow runs and line closures thus ensuring a sufficient number of rail routes for the customers’ needs and consequently higher quality realization of the schedule. The paper gives a concrete presentation of the volume of slow runs and line closures, calculation of reducing the level of railway capacities with a simulation and the result of this condition on the capacity of the concrete railway line and the proposal of a model for organizing an expert group within the traffic control activities for the fastest possible elimination of these negative phenomena