Synchronization of train timetables in an urban rail network: A bi-objective optimization approach

Authors

Jiateng Yin
Miao Wang
Andrea D'Ariano
Jinlei Zhang
Lixing Yang

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2023

Subject Area

place - asia, place - urban, mode - subway/metro, operations - scheduling, operations - coordination, ridership - demand

Keywords

urban rail, timetable synchronization, passenger demand

Abstract

As urban rail networks in big cities tend to expand, the synchronization of trains has become a key issue for improving the service quality of passengers because most urban rail transit systems in the world involve more than one connected line, and passengers must transfer between these lines. In contrast to most existing studies that focus on a single line, in this study, we focus on synchronized train timetable optimization in an urban rail transit network, considering the dynamic passenger demand with transfers as well as train loading capacity constraints. First, we propose a mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation for the synchronization of training timetables, in which we consider the optimization of two objectives. The first objective is to minimize the total waiting time of passengers, involving arriving and transfer passengers. Our second objective is a synchronization quality indicator (SQI) with piecewise linear formulation, which we propose to evaluate the transfer convenience of passengers. Subsequently, we propose several linearization techniques to handle the nonlinear constraints in the MIP formulation, and we prove the tightness of our reformulations. To solve large-scale instances more efficiently, we also develop a hybrid adaptive large neighbor search algorithm that is compared with two benchmarks: the commercial solver CPLEX and a metaheuristic. Finally, we focus on a series of real-world instances based on historical data from the Beijing metro network. The results show that our algorithm outperforms both benchmarks, and the synchronized timetable generated by our approach reduces the average waiting time of passengers by 1.5% and improves the connection quality of the Beijing metro by 14.8%.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transportation Research Part E Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13665545

Recommended Citation

Yin, J., Wang, M., D’Ariano, A., Zhang, J., & Yang, L. (2023). Synchronization of train timetables in an urban rail network: A bi-objective optimization approach. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 174, 103142.