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Reliability and heterogeneity of railway services

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  • Vromans, M.J.C.M.
  • Dekker, R.
  • Kroon, L.G.

Abstract

Reliability is one of the key factors in transportation, both for passengers and for cargo. This paper examines reliability in public railway systems. Reliability of railway services is a complex matter, since there are many causes for disruptions and at least as many causes for delays to spread around in space and time. One way to increase the reliability is to reduce the propagation of delays due to the interdependencies between trains. In this paper we attempt to decrease these interdependencies by reducing the running time differences per track section, i.e. by creating more homogeneous timetables. Because of the complexity of railway systems, we use network wide simulation for the analysis of the alternative timetables. We report on both theoretical and practical cases. Besides a comparison of different timetables, also general timetabling principles are deduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Vromans, M.J.C.M. & Dekker, R. & Kroon, L.G., 2003. "Reliability and heterogeneity of railway services," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2003-090-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    • Handle: RePEc:ems:eureri:1076
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    Cited by:

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    4. Vansteenwegen, Pieter & Dewilde, Thijs & Burggraeve, Sofie & Cattrysse, Dirk, 2016. "An iterative approach for reducing the impact of infrastructure maintenance on the performance of railway systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 252(1), pages 39-53.
    5. Franciszek Restel & Łukasz Wolniewicz & Matea Mikulčić, 2021. "Method for Designing Robust and Energy Efficient Railway Schedules," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Jens Parbo & Otto Anker Nielsen & Carlo Giacomo Prato, 2016. "Passenger Perspectives in Railway Timetabling: A Literature Review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 500-526, July.
    7. Maosheng Li & Zhengqiu Liu & Yonghong Zhang & Weijun Liu & Feng Shi, 2017. "Distribution analysis of train interval journey time employing the censored model with shifting character," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 715-733, March.
    8. Liping Ge & Stefan Voß & Lin Xie, 2022. "Robustness and disturbances in public transport," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 191-261, March.
    9. Reggiani, Aura & Nijkamp, Peter & Lanzi, Diego, 2015. "Transport resilience and vulnerability: The role of connectivity," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 4-15.
    10. Parbo, Jens & Nielsen, Otto A. & Prato, Carlo G., 2018. "Reducing passengers’ travel time by optimising stopping patterns in a large-scale network: A case-study in the Copenhagen Region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 197-212.
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    12. Meng, Lingyun & Zhou, Xuesong, 2011. "Robust single-track train dispatching model under a dynamic and stochastic environment: A scenario-based rolling horizon solution approach," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1080-1102, August.
    13. Zhichao Cao & Zhenzhou Yuan & Silin Zhang, 2016. "Performance Analysis of Stop-Skipping Scheduling Plans in Rail Transit under Time-Dependent Demand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, July.
    14. M. D. Yap & N. Oort & R. Nes & B. Arem, 2018. "Identification and quantification of link vulnerability in multi-level public transport networks: a passenger perspective," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1161-1180, July.
    15. Oskar Fr�idh & Hans Sipil� & Jennifer Warg, 2014. "Capacity for express trains on mixed traffic lines," International Journal of Rail Transportation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 17-27, February.
    16. Yiting Xing & Ling Li & Zhuming Bi & Marzena Wilamowska‐Korsak & Li Zhang, 2013. "Operations Research (OR) in Service Industries: A Comprehensive Review," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 300-353, May.
    17. Chihmao Hsieh & Sérgio Giovanetti Lazzarini & Jackson A. Nickerson & Marcio Laurini, 2010. "Does Ownership Affect the Variability of the Production Process? Evidence from International Courier Services," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 892-912, August.
    18. Krier, Betty & Liu, Chia-Mei & McNamara, Brian & Sharpe, Jerrod, 2014. "Individual freight effects, capacity utilization, and Amtrak service quality," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 163-175.
    19. Dewilde, Thijs & Sels, Peter & Cattrysse, Dirk & Vansteenwegen, Pieter, 2014. "Improving the robustness in railway station areas," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 235(1), pages 276-286.
    20. Lusby, Richard M. & Larsen, Jesper & Bull, Simon, 2018. "A survey on robustness in railway planning," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(1), pages 1-15.
    21. Hyun Kim & Yena Song, 2018. "An integrated measure of accessibility and reliability of mass transit systems," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1075-1100, July.
    22. Solinen, Emma & Palmqvist, Carl-William, 2023. "Development of new railway timetabling rules for increased robustness," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 198-208.
    23. Zhang, Jiamin, 2015. "Analysis on line capacity usage for China high speed railway with optimization approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 336-349.
    24. Simon Bull & Jesper Larsen & Richard M. Lusby & Natalia J. Rezanova, 2019. "Optimising the travel time of a line plan," 4OR, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 225-259, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    heterogeneity; railways; reliability; simulation; transportation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L92 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
    • M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management

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