Assessing urban rail transit systems vulnerability: Metrics vs. interdiction models

Abstract

Urban rail transit systems are highly vulnerable to disruptions, including accidental failures, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Due to the crucial role that railway infrastructures play in economic development, productivity and social well-being of communities, evaluating their vulnerability and identifying their most critical components is of paramount importance. Two main approaches can be deployed to assess transport infrastructure vulnerabilities: vulnerability metrics and interdiction models. In this paper, we compare these two approaches and apply them to the Central London Tube to identify the most critical stations with respect to accessibility, efficiency and flow measures.