Railway station capacity assessment utilizing simulation-based techniques and the UIC406 method

Abstract

The evaluation of rail track layout capacity represents an important part of strategic (long-term) planning or tactical (medium-term) planning related to railway traffic and railway infrastructure. This contribution pays attention mainly to railway stations that represent crucial transportation points of railway networks. Capacities of railway stations can be assessed (for given traffic scenarios/timetables) according to different qualitative or quantitative viewpoints. Simulation techniques are usually focused on getting total delays of all trains which is closely related to the quality of transport from the passenger perspective. On the other hand, the analytical methods (e.g. based on UIC 406 leaflet) typically calculate occupation rates of selected infrastructure parts, i.e. a certain kind of quantitative assessment is applied. The processed case study deals with capacity detections related to a smaller passenger station. The capacities are investigated with the help of computer simulation and by means of analytical method specified in UIC 406. Both approaches are compared and some recommendations about their application are formulated.