access icon free Impact of train positioning inaccuracies on railway traffic management systems: framework development and impacts on TMS functions

Nowadays the railway industry is beginning to give serious consideration to using intelligent traffic management systems (TMSs) in order to improve railway performance regarding train and passenger delays and robust use of capacity. The TMS is responsible for handling railway traffic once a disturbance happens. A fundamental input parameter of a TMS is the train positions, to be used for traffic re-planning purposes. Inaccuracy in the train positioning data could significantly influence the effectiveness of a TMS. In this study, the authors developed a framework to evaluate how inaccuracies in the train position reporting may affect the TMS performance. This is achieved by assessing the impact of adding inaccuracies to the train position reported to a simulated TMS as it handles operational disturbances in real-time. The performance of the TMS is analysed by considering variability in overall delay outcomes after re-planning based on using accurate/inaccurate positional data. They demonstrate the usefulness of their framework in determining the positional accuracy required for the effective application of a basic rescheduling system via an example on a bottleneck area. Results show how the positioning inaccuracies can affect TMS and thus the overall delay.

Inspec keywords: rail traffic; railway communication; railway industry; traffic engineering computing; railways; position control

Other keywords: train positioning inaccuracies; traffic re-planning purposes; passenger delays; inaccuracy; simulated TMS; railway traffic management systems; basic rescheduling system; railway industry; positional accuracy; TMS functions; intelligent traffic management systems; TMS performance; train position reporting; framework development; fundamental input parameter; railway performance; train positioning data

Subjects: Spatial variables control; Railway industry; Traffic engineering computing

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