Timetable Optimization of Rail Transit Loop Line with Transfer Coordination

In an urban rail transit system, it is important to coordinate the timetable of a loop line with its connecting lines so as to reduce the waiting time of passengers. This is particularly essential because transfer passengers usually account for the majority of the total passengers in loop lines. In this paper, a timetable optimization model is developed for loop line in order to minimize the average waiting time of access passengers and transfer passengers. This is performed by adjusting the headways and dwell times of trains on the loop line. A genetic algorithm is applied to solve the proposed model, and a numerical example is used to verify its effectiveness. Finally, a case study of a loop line in the Beijing urban rail transit system is conducted. Waiting times of the passengers and the number of waiting passengers are used as performance indicators to verify the optimization results in rush hours and non‐rush hours. The results show that the average waiting times for the up‐track and down‐track are reduced by 3.69% and 2.89% during rush hours and by 11.60% and 11.47% during non‐rush hours, respectively.