Improving On-Time Performance for Long-Distance Passenger Trains Operating on Freight Routes

Martland, C D

doi:10.5399/osu/jtrf.47.4.1126

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In cycling between bulk commodity loading and unloading terminals, heavy haul freight trains may randomly enter the rail network according to bulk commodity production and shipping schedules. This style of train operation is referred to as “improvised” or “flexible operation.” 4 Flexible operations allow terminals to adapt to changing traffic conditions and shipment demand by changing train departure times. 5 Terminals may hold trains past their departure times to maximize the freight hauled by each train and preserve the efficiency of the heavy haul operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The flexible style of railway operations is in contrast to “structured operations” where a detailed timetable specifies preplanned departure times, exact locations to resolve meet and pass conflicts with other trains, and arrival times at intermediate points on the route and the final destination terminal. 4 The structured style of railway operations is common in Europe and Asia, and also on commuter rail and transit systems in North America. In Europe, the structured method of operation applies to all train types, including heavy haul freight trains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transitioning from flexible to structured heavy haul operations to expand the capacity of single-track shared corridors in North America

Dick

Mussanov

Nishio

2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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North American freight railroads typically exhibit flexible operations with variable train schedules where freight trains are dispatched when filled to length or weight capacity, and train dispatchers resolve train conflicts in real time, making it an ideal approach for low-cost transportation of bulk commodities. Recently, North American railways have experienced a substantial decline in demand for bulk transportation of coal while premium intermodal traffic that must operate on more structured schedules has reached record levels. On the predominantly single-track railway network in North America, operating a mixture of trains with differing schedule flexibility creates fluctuating patterns of train meets that increase train delay, constrain capacity, and decrease utilization of capital-intensive track infrastructure. This study investigates the relationship between line capacity, amount of schedule flexibility, level of service, and the proportion of flexible and scheduled trains operating on a rail line. Using the Rail Traffic Controller software, different combinations of these factors are simulated to determine the capacity of representative North American rail corridors with heavy haul and priority intermodal traffic. The simulation results suggest that introducing more structured schedules for heavy haul traffic is an effective alternative to investment in additional second main track infrastructure to gain sufficient capacity for growing scheduled intermodal traffic on traditional bulk commodity freight corridors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning from flexible to structured heavy haul operations to expand the capacity of single-track shared corridors in North America

Dick

Mussanov

Nishio

2018

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F:

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show abstract

“…North American freight railways generally do not operate to strict timetables ( 27 , 28 ). Instead, trains have some amount of schedule flexibility where a train may be dispatched earlier or later depending on a range of factors such as crew and equipment availability, network congestion, lading availability, and yard and terminal operations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…North American freight railways generally do not operate to strict timetables (27,28). Instead, trains have some amount of schedule flexibility where a train may be a Two-train fleets in one direction is not included in the primary experiment design.…”

Section: Study Parameters and Experiments Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Railway Operational Efficiency with Moving Blocks, Train Fleeting, and Alternative Single-Track Configurations

Rivera

Evans

2020

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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With installation of positive train control (PTC) on many U.S. rail corridors, Class I railroads may soon leverage these investments in communications network infrastructure to implement “advanced PTC” systems incorporating moving blocks. Train control with moving blocks can benefit operating strategies that dispatch fleets of multiple trains running at minimum headways. On single-track corridors with passing sidings long enough to hold multiple trains, fleeting may increase the efficiency of train meets, reduce train delay, and yield incremental capacity benefits. Alternative single-track configurations with fleet-length sidings at double the spacing of conventional single-train sidings can facilitate these operating strategies while minimizing additional track infrastructure and associated capital and maintenance costs. To investigate the operational synergies between moving blocks, fleeting, and longer but less frequent sidings, Rail Traffic Controller software is used to simulate and compare the delay performance of train operations on representative rail corridors for different combinations of fleeting strategy, train control system, siding configuration, and freight traffic composition. Operating fleets in conjunction with moving blocks produces the lowest overall train delay in specific cases of low schedule flexibility and heterogeneous traffic. With more efficient meets, moving blocks and/or fleeting primarily benefit low priority trains that typically wait for opposing traffic during train meets. Such incremental line capacity benefits have short-term financial consequences as they allow additional capital investments in double track to be deferred. Knowledge of train delay performance under moving blocks and fleeting will aid railway practitioners evaluating investments in advanced PTC systems and track infrastructure expansion.

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“…This issue affects a large number of rail networks, worldwide, and raises specific problems since it requires the infrastructure manager to deal with heterogeneous and possibly conflicting demands for capacity. A considerable literature, based on international experience, deals with the various challenges related to the operation of mixed-use rail infrastructures: the impacts of train characteristics (Pyrgidis and Christogiannis, 2012), infrastructure use charges (Calvo et al, 2007), capacity determination (Pouryousef et al, 2013), train performance and delays (Martland, 2008;Krier et al, 2014), maintenance planning (Saat and Barkan, 2013) and ''operating strategies'' (train scheduling and dispatching) (Nash, 2003). This paper addresses the issue of train scheduling and is concerned with timetable-based operations (as opposed to ''improvised operations'') (Pouryousef et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges raised by freight for the operations planning of a shared-use rail network. A French perspective

Morvant¹

2015

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

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Improving On-Time Performance for Long-Distance Passenger Trains Operating on Freight Routes

Abstract: This paper discusses on-time performance (OTP)

Cited by 9 publications

References 2 publications

Transitioning from flexible to structured heavy haul operations to expand the capacity of single-track shared corridors in North America

Transitioning from flexible to structured heavy haul operations to expand the capacity of single-track shared corridors in North America

Improving Railway Operational Efficiency with Moving Blocks, Train Fleeting, and Alternative Single-Track Configurations

Challenges raised by freight for the operations planning of a shared-use rail network. A French perspective

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