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A combined simulation-optimization approach for minimizing travel time and delays in railway timetables

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  • Högdahl, Johan
  • Bohlin, Markus
  • Fröidh, Oskar

Abstract

Minimal travel time and maximal reliability are two of the most important properties of a railway transportation service. This paper considers the problem of finding a timetable for a given set of departures that minimizes the weighted sum of scheduled travel time and expected delay, thereby capturing these two important socio-economic properties of a timetable. To accurately represent the complex secondary delays in operational railway traffic, an approach combining microscopic simulation and macroscopic timetable optimization is proposed. To predict the expected delay in the macroscopic timetable, a surrogate function is formulated, as well as a subproblem to calibrate the parameters in the model. In a set of computational experiments, the approach increased the socio-economic benefit by 2–5% and improved the punctuality by 8–25%.

Suggested Citation

  • Högdahl, Johan & Bohlin, Markus & Fröidh, Oskar, 2019. "A combined simulation-optimization approach for minimizing travel time and delays in railway timetables," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 192-212.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:126:y:2019:i:c:p:192-212
    DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2019.04.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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