Capacity Assessment in Railway Networks

Abstract

Capacity assessment is essential for densely utilized railway networks. To guarantee stable operations, it is necessary to evaluate the capacity occupation and determine possible infrastructure bottlenecks. This requires accurate microscopic models that incorporate detailed infrastructure characteristics, signalling and interlocking logic, train characteristics, and driver behaviour. This chapter presents capacity assessment models based on a novel algebraic approach that builds on accurate running and blocking time computations. The capacity assessment should be undertaken on corridors, station areas, and networks, and as such, support a better understanding of the existing timetable constraints and possible infrastructure investments.