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Efficient dispatching rules on double tracks with heterogeneous train traffic

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  • Mu, Shi
  • Dessouky, Maged

Abstract

The most natural and popular dispatching rule for double-track segments is to dedicate one track for trains traveling in one direction. However, sometimes passenger trains have to share some portions of the railway with freight trains and passenger trains are traveling faster and faster nowadays. The major drawback of this dedicated rule is that a fast train can be caught behind a slow train and experience significant knock-on delay. In this paper, we propose a switchable dispatching policy for a double-track segment. The new dispatching rule enables the fast train to pass the slow train by using the track traveled by trains in the opposite direction if the track is empty. We use queueing theory techniques to derive the delay functions of this policy. The numerical experiments show that a switchable policy can reduce the fast train knock-on delay by as high as 30% compared to a dedicated policy. When there are crossovers at the middle of the double-track segment, our proposed switchable policy can reduce the delay of the fast trains by as high as 65%.

Suggested Citation

  • Mu, Shi & Dessouky, Maged, 2013. "Efficient dispatching rules on double tracks with heterogeneous train traffic," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 45-64.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:51:y:2013:i:c:p:45-64
    DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2013.02.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Dessouky, Maged & Fu, Lunce & Hu, Shichun, 2018. "Integrating Management of Truck and Rail Systems in Los Angeles," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt3ms7789j, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    2. Yin, Jiateng & Tang, Tao & Yang, Lixing & Gao, Ziyou & Ran, Bin, 2016. "Energy-efficient metro train rescheduling with uncertain time-variant passenger demands: An approximate dynamic programming approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 178-210.
    3. Li, Feng & Gao, Ziyou & Wang, David Z.W. & Liu, Ronghui & Tang, Tao & Wu, Jianjun & Yang, Lixing, 2017. "A subjective capacity evaluation model for single-track railway system with δ-balanced traffic and λ-tolerance level," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 43-66.
    4. Zhan, Shuguang & Kroon, Leo G. & Zhao, Jun & Peng, Qiyuan, 2016. "A rolling horizon approach to the high speed train rescheduling problem in case of a partial segment blockage," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 32-61.
    5. Sairong Peng & Xin Yang & Hongwei Wang & Hairong Dong & Bin Ning & Haichuan Tang & Zhipeng Ying & Ruijun Tang, 2019. "Dispatching High-Speed Rail Trains via Utilizing the Reverse Direction Track: Adaptive Rescheduling Strategies and Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Yin, Jiateng & Yang, Lixing & Tang, Tao & Gao, Ziyou & Ran, Bin, 2017. "Dynamic passenger demand oriented metro train scheduling with energy-efficiency and waiting time minimization: Mixed-integer linear programming approaches," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 182-213.
    7. Wenliang Zhou & Xiaorong You & Wenzhuang Fan, 2020. "A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Method for Simultaneous Multi-Periodic Train Timetabling and Routing on a High-Speed Rail Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-34, February.
    8. Ursani, Ziauddin & Mei, T.X. & Whiteing, Anthony, 2013. "A fault tolerance approach for railway scheduling and train control," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 161-173.
    9. Xu, Xiaoming & Li, Keping & Yang, Lixing, 2015. "Scheduling heterogeneous train traffic on double tracks with efficient dispatching rules," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 364-384.

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