Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S.

Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

Station capacity and stability of train

operations

LA. Hansen
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geo Sciences,
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Abstract

The capacity of railway stations is determined by the characteristics of the

tracks, platforms, crossovers, signals, rolling stock, and the timetable. For design
purposes the expected track occupation can be estimated on the basis of
deterministic routes, train speeds, travel times, stop times and frequencies.
Stochastic impacts on arrival and departure times generally intend to be
compensated by travel time supplements and buffer times. The amount of train
waiting time due to conflicting claims of routes at a station in case of delays is
estimated by means of both queuing theory and a max-plus algebra approach.
The principle characteristics, as well as shortcomings of these analytical models
in order to assess station capacity and stability of train services are discussed. A
comparison of the calculation results concerning the estimated waiting time,
occupation of different track sections and available buffer time within the station
of Den Hague HS shows significant differences that emphasise the need to
validate the analytical approaches by detailed analysis of train detection data and
suitable simulation programs.

1 Introduction

The punctuality of train operations in networks depends mainly on technical

failures, track occupation and buffer times between train paths. The delays of
trains at conflict points of the network increase with the frequency and duration
of occupation of these critical route sections by different lines and type of trains
as the probability of simultaneous route claims and track occupation is growing.
The conflicts between different route claims at merging and crossing of tracks
 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

oiA Computers in Railways VII

reduce the railway capacity and reliability of operations compared to open tracks
where it is influenced only by the variety of train dynamics and the
characteristics of the signal system. At stations the processing of trains is
additionally hampered by deceleration, dwell time, acceleration and transfer
between connecting trains.
The design of station tracks is governed by the aim to minimise the number
of tracks, switches and crossings, maximise the flexibility of operations and
optimise the track occupation. So far, there are no clear design standards
concerning the optimal degree of occupation of routes, switches, crossings and
platform tracks. Which buffer times are necessary to assure stable operations in
station areas? In the following two recent Dutch studies regarding the capacity of
railway stations and the stability of operations are described and the results in the
case of the station Den Hague HS are compared with each other. Finally, some
conclusions are made concerning the further development of a more suitable
approach to determine the design standards of station tracks.

2 Queuing theory approach

Trains in stations are considered as units to be processed by different channels

where the switches, crossings and platforms represent the locks. The conflict
points are characterised by one access channel followed by one or two exits, two
entries followed by one exit or both two entries and exits. The service times of
each channel are given by the approach, occupation and release time of the trains
at the individual track sections that depend on the actual speed, braking rate,
route length, train length, and switch times.
The conventional queuing theory is only applicable for servers with single
access channels, e.g. for trains approaching a signal or negotiate a facing point.
The train queues in front of a merge or crossing of two tracks, however, are in
first instance interpreted as if they were only a single one representing a certain
train mix. The queuing model is given by the triple A/B/s where A expresses the
distribution of train arrival times, B the distribution of service times (i.e.
blocking times), and s the number of servers. As no more than one train can pass
a conflict area at the same time, s is always equal to one.
A is assumed to be stochastic with the arrival time being a negative
exponential distribution which corresponds to a Poisson distribution of the train
headway [1]. The negative exponential distribution of arrival and departure
times of delayed trains seems to be confirmed by recent statistical analysis of
train detection data at the station of Eindhoven/The Netherlands [2]. The
distribution of the service times B is, so far, unknown and will be investigated
further on the basis of empirical data.
In case of an exponential distribution of arrival times and service times the
queuing model M/M/l is known by:
 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

Computers in Railways I'll g jj

w- I- ^ rn
^" ^1^ ^
// : service time "'

p : track occupation time = — < 1

X : headway "* .
Steady state exists if the degree of track occupation is less than 1. This is
valid for a time period of a whole day or a longer peak period, but it might not
be given during shorter time periods. In this case the trains in the queue would
not arrive independently from other which means that the queuing model in
theory cannot not be applied. For reasons of simplicity the interdependency of
train movements in stations in peak intervals for the present is assumed to be
insignificant.
The application of queuing theory to railway operations in stations has been
developed first by Wakob [3]. His approach is based on any general probability
distribution of the headway G and a determination of the deviation of the
variance coefficients relative to the M/M//1 model by means of linear regression.
The expected waiting times per route section consisting of at least one switch or
crossing that can be occupied only by a single train at the same time
(,,Teilfahrstrassenknoten") are calculated for a given train schedule in order to
identify the route section with the maximal occupation time.
The station track capacity per train schedule is then estimated by means of
extrapolation of the sum of the waiting time in the whole station area until a
certain total time per day is reached. The standard value for good quality of
passenger train operations of 130 min is derived from practical experience of
Deutsche Bahn AG [4]. However, empirical evidence or analytical proof of
being optimal in terms of service quality and efficiency is still lacking.
The approach of Wakob has been applied to the scheduled train operations at
the station Den Hague HS by De Kort [5]. This station consists of 2 tracks in
each direction with centre platforms and an at-grade crossing of the track leading
to the station Den Hague CS (figure 1).

fhmUtrecWBincfchorst

toAnctGfdornCS Y//////////A /
/=\ %

LLJ
to The Hague CS
Figure 1: Track layout and route sections of the station Den Hague HS
 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

o 12 Computers in Railways VII

The station is served daily by about 500 trains that consist of 1C, IR, Regional
and very few freight trains. The heaviest loaded route section crossing n° 5
where 248 trains pass daily generates an occupation of 33 % and an estimated
waiting time of 139.8 min (table 1). The occupation of the switches and
crossings varies only between 20 and 33 % while the scheduled average train
headway is ranging between 6 and 15 min. It can be seen clearly that the
crossover n° 9-10 where all the trains running in the direction of Amsterdam
merge is producing rather long waiting times because of the long service time.
This is due to the limited speed of the switches of 50 km/h for trains using the
curved track.
The amount of estimated daily waiting time of about 130 min at the critical
route sections indicate that the expected quality of operations of the timetable
with 500 trains a day seems still to be very good according to the standard of the
Deutsche Bahn. The maximal queue length is there defined as:

/fF=0,2J7.e-A.?P (2)

p representing the share of passenger trains. The influence of the quality of

operations on the queue length is expressed by a factor of 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 for very
good, satisfactory and unsatisfactory level of quality [6].

Table 1: Operations characteristics of route sections of Den Hague HS,

timetable 1996/97 [source: De Kort, 1999]

Route Number of Number Average Average Average Track Waiting

section trains/day of lines frequency headway service time occupation time
perh [min] [min] p [min]
1 156 5 6,2 9,2 2,3 0,25 66,8
2 192 5 8,0 7,5 2,3 0,30 116,4
3 100 4 5,0 14,4 3,1 0,21 52,6
4 100 3 5,0 14,4 3,7 0,25 72,7
5 248 7 9,2 5,8 *1 ,9 0,33 139,8
6 148 6 6,2 9,7 2,6 0,27 103,4
7 124 4 6,0 11 ,6 3,5 0,30 111,7
8 148 5 6,2 9,7 2,2 0,23 67,8
9 148 5 7,0 9,7 2,9 0,30 115,6
10 128 4 5,0 11 ,3 2,9 0,26 76,3

However, it represents only an estimate of a certain timetable and does not

reflect the impact of primary delays that the trains approaching to the station
introduce to the local track network. For that reason, a detailed statistical
analysis of train delays, dwell times and track occupation times at several Dutch
railway stations, based on train detection data, is currently taking place.
 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

Computers in Railways VII gj3

3 Max-plus algebra approach

In recent years a new mathematical method named m ax-plus algebra has been
applied successfully to model cyclic railway timetables on a network scale [7, 8,
9, 10]. The connection of line services at transfer stations can be modelled by
means of simple travel time matrices and unconventional analytical functions for
the addition and selection of the maximum matrix element respectively.
The eigenvalue of the max-plus matrix represents the duration of the critical
circuit of a network timetable. The difference between the eigenvalue and the
cycle time of the timetable (e.g. 15 or 20 min for Regional and 30 or 60 min for
1C trains) is a measure for the buffer time between arrivals and departures of the
trains at the transfer stations of the network. A recently developed tool for
computer-aided conversion and evaluation of railway timetables by means of
max-plus algebra is described by Soto y Koelemeijer et al. [1 1].
The location of the critical circuit in a network is given by the maximum
average cycle time of the circuits between the transfer stations which are
calculated by dividing the sum of the travel and transfer times by the number of
links. The critical circuit, however, changes when the frequency of trains of a
line is modified. The time period until damping out of a primary delay in a
strongly connected network can be estimated in case of deterministic travel times
simply by dividing the delay time through the stability margin:

AT : stability margin of timetable

TC : cycle time of timetable
A : eigenvalue of the max-plus travel time matrix.

The modelling of train operations in stations by max-plus algebra has been

shown by van Egmond [12]. The estimated block times of the scheduled trains at
the different route sections are piled up and consequently the eigenvalue of the
max-plus matrix of block times and transfer times is calculated. These times
indicate the degree of occupation of the resources of a station (figure 2). The
remaining stability margin compared to the cycle time of the timetable is the
buffer time for compensating delays. The propagation of primary delays within
the station track area can be estimated by calculating the amount and location of
secondary delays on the basis of the max-plus matrix:

Td : fading out time

p /: primary delay.
 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

814 Computers in Railways VII

Utg -, i 12 Rtd
Asd . , \ w / | , / Rtd
' \ / ' 9 ' 10
Asd - | \/ | -5 7 Rid
1 /s \S
y-' y- \ \
Asd - \ / i /1 Rtd
Gvt <
Gvc -
Figure 2: Station layout and track resources of the station Den Hague HS
Asd = Amsterdam Gvc = Den Haag Centraal Rtd = Rotterdam
Utg = Utrecht freight station

The critical circuit of the station track network in Den Hague HS for the same
timetable as investigated by De Kort is affecting nearly every resource while the
eigenvalue of a peak hour interval according to the max-plus approach is only 35
min. The degree of occupation of the different resources varies a lot between less
than 5 % and a maximum of 27 % (figure 3). The location of the heaviest loaded
track sections coincides with the calculations of De Kort, but the amount of
buffer time estimated by means of the max-plus approach might be significantly
less than indicated for the individual route sections by De Kort due to the strong
interconnection of the resources.

1 2 3 4 5 10 11 12
resource
I I — platform tracks
•H — other tracks

Figure 3: Occupation of track resources of the station Den Hague HS,

timetable 1996/97 [source: van Egmond, 1999]
 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0
Computers in Railways 1 77

4 Conclusions

The different analytical approaches by means of queuing theory and m ax-plus

algebra in order to determine the capacity and stability of operations in railway
stations lead broadly to similar results regarding the location of bottlenecks and
the occupation of route sections. However, significant differences remain with
regard to the amount of buffer time and the ability of the track network to
compensate for delays. The determination of an optimal degree of occupation of
track resources in stations needs to be further supported by more comprehensive
empirical research on the basis of real train detection data and validation of
analytical approaches by means of realistic simulation of train processing on
signal controlled routes in stations.

Acknowledgement

This publication is a result of the research programme Seamless Multimodal

Mobility (SMM), carried out within the TRAIL Research School for Transport,
Infrastructure and Logistics, and financed by Delft University of Technology.

References

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 Computers in Railways VII, C.A. Brebbia J.Allan, R.J. Hill, G. Sciutto & S. Sone (Editors)
© 2000 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-826-0

gj ft Computers in Railways VII

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