Planning for Operation: Can Line Extension Planning Mitigate Capacity Mismatch on an Existing Rail Network?

Abstract

Operational planning in China is perhaps more important today than ever before owing to the ongoing expansion of urban rail in the country. As urban rail networks increase in size and complexity, new lines added to them significantly alter both their topologies and operational characteristics. Thus, appraisal of alternative lines from the perspective of operation while planning is crucial. In this study, a method to forecast demands for new lines and obviate the effects of their addition, in terms of overcrowding in urban rail networks, was developed based on smart card data from existing networks. Using the card data and forecasted demand, transfer demand and section load can be estimated through the route choice model, and hence the influence of new lines on the operation of the network can be analyzed. The results of application of the proposed method to a case of line extension of a network in Beijing showed that it effectively prevented overcrowding by fewer interchanges on the line extension. Approximately 63% of passengers desiring an interchange on the target line altered their interchange from the station that had acted as bottleneck to the new interchange. Consequently, the headway of the feeding line was reduced from 6 min to 3.5 min. Hence, the capacity mismatch problem no longer occurred.

Evaluating the value of new metro lines using route diversity measures: The case of Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway system

“…Hong et al (2017) investigated the effects of different expansion plans on the vulnerability of the subway network in Wuhan, China and identified the optimal plan from the network redundancy perspective. Zhu et al (2018) investigated the appraisal of alternative lines and their effects on network performance during adverse events, using the case of line extension of a network in Beijing, China. Nian et al (2019) evaluated the benefits of different alignments of new lines with respect to reducing network vulnerability in Shanghai.…”

A Study on the Calculation of Platform Sizes of Urban Rail Hub Stations Based on Passenger Behavior Characteristics

“…where C i is any time when a train arrives at the station, which represents the group average space-time consumption value of passenger group G i on the platform, measured as m 2 • s, N i is the cumulative total of passenger group G i on the platform at any time when a train arrives at the station; C j is the time and space consumption of passenger group G i appearing at the j th time, S j is the platform space required by passenger group G i appearing at the j th time, measured in m 2 , which can be calculated by equation (10). Additionally, T j is the time taken by the j th passenger group G i from arrival to departure the platform in seconds, L j is the distance taken by the j th passenger group G i from arrival to departure the platform in meters, v j is the speed taken by the j th passenger group G i from arrival to departure the platform in m/s, and σ is the fluctuation factor in the passenger group.…”

“…On the other hand, if the platform is too small, it will not be able to cater to a large passenger flow. For example, at Beijing metro line 13, Xierqi Station's original design was too small to meet the transfer needs of the Changping line [2]. e council had to abandon the old station due to high risks in reconstructing the existing one.…”