A pattern-based timetabling strategy for a short-turning metro line
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2024
Subject Area
mode - subway/metro, operations - scheduling, operations - capacity
Keywords
Metro timetabling, Short-turning, Demand-driven timetabling, Constraint programming
Abstract
The planning of metro lines is typically done through a strictly hierarchical approach, which is effective but somewhat inflexible. In this paper, we propose a flexible semiperiodic timetabling strategy using short-turning; thus, allowing trains to turn before reaching the terminal station of a line. Our strategy produces timetables that are periodic with respect to a group of short-turning destinations. This is denoted by the term service pattern. We introduce the service pattern timetabling problem (SPTP). Given a service pattern, the SPTP optimizes the train timetable considering capacity restrictions. The SPTP is modeled as a constraint program. We develop a framework for producing a large set of diverse and high-quality timetables for a metro line. This is achieved by repeatedly solving the SPTP with different patterns. Then we select a restricted list of non-dominated solutions with respect to three objectives: (1) the average passenger waiting time, (2) the maximum load factor achieved by the trains, and (3) the number of transfers induced by short-turning. We evaluate the proposed framework on a number of test instances. Through our computational experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed strategy.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by SpringerLink, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Schettini, T., Gendreau, M., Jabali, O., & Malucelli, F. (2024). A pattern-based timetabling strategy for a short-turning metro line. Public Transport, 16(1), 1-37.
