High-Speed Railway Train Timetable Conflict Prediction Based on Fuzzy Temporal Knowledge Reasoning

Trains are prone to delays and deviations from train operation plans during their operation because of internal or external disturbances. Delays may develop into operational conflicts between adjacent trains as a result of delay propagation, which may disturb the arrangement of the train operation plan and threaten the operational safety of trains. Therefore, reliable conflict prediction results can be valuable references for dispatchers in making more efficient train operation adjustments when conflicts occur. In contrast to the traditional approach to conflict prediction that involves introducing random disturbances, this study addresses the issue of the fuzzification of time intervals in a train timetable based on historical statistics and the modeling of a high-speed railway train timetable based on the concept of a timed Petri net. To measure conflict prediction results more comprehensively, we divided conflicts into potential conflicts and certain conflicts and defined the judgment conditions for both. Two evaluation indexes, one for the deviation of a single train and one for the possibility of conflicts between adjacent train operations, were developed using a formalized computation method. Based on the temporal fuzzy reasoning method, with some adjustment, a new conflict prediction method is proposed, and the results of a simulation example for two scenarios are presented. The results prove that conflict prediction after fuzzy processing of the time intervals of a train timetable is more reliable and practical and can provide helpful information for use in train operation adjustment, train timetable improvement, and other purposes.

A train timetable rescheduling approach based on multi-train tracking optimization of high-speed railways

Purpose–This paper aims to propose a train timetable rescheduling(TTR)approach from the perspective of multi-train tracking optimization based on the mutual spatiotemporal information in the high-speed railway signaling system.Design/methodology/approach–Firstly,a single-train trajectory optimization(STTO)model is constructed based on train dynamics and operating conditions.The train kinematics parameters,including acceleration,speed and time at each position,are calculated to predict the arrival times in the train timetable.A STTO algorithm is developed to optimize a single-train time-efficient driving strategy.Then,a TTR approach based on multi-train tracking optimization(TTR-MTTO)is proposed with mutual information.The constraints of temporary speed restriction(TSR)and end of authority are decoupled to calculate the tracking trajectory of the backward tracking train.The multi-train trajectories at each position are optimized to generate a timeefficient train timetable.Findings–The numerical experiment is performed on the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway line and CR400AF.The STTO algorithm predicts the train’s planned arrival time to calculate the total train delay(TTD).As for the TSR scenario,the proposed TTR-MTTO can reduce TTD by 60.60%compared with the traditional TTR approach with dispatchers’experience.Moreover,TTR-MTTO can optimize a time-efficient train timetable to help dispatchers reschedule trains more reasonably.Originality/value–With the cooperative relationship and mutual information between train rescheduling and control,the proposed TTR-MTTO approach can automatically generate a time-efficient train timetable to reduce the total train delay and the work intensity of dispatchers.

Transformer-Based Macroscopic Regulation for High-Speed Railway Timetable Rescheduling

Unexpected delays in train operations can cause a cascade of negative consequences in a high-speed railway system.In such cases,train timetables need to be rescheduled.However,timely and efficient train timetable rescheduling is still a challenging problem due to its modeling difficulties and low optimization efficiency.This paper presents a Transformer-based macroscopic regulation approach which consists of two stages including Transformer-based modeling and policy-based decisionmaking.Firstly,the relationship between various train schedules and operations is described by creating a macroscopic model with the Transformer,providing the better understanding of overall operation in the high-speed railway system.Then,a policy-based approach is used to solve a continuous decision problem after macro-modeling for fast convergence.Extensive experiments on various delay scenarios are conducted.The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison to other popular methods.

An Improved Walk Model for Train Movement on Railway Network

In this paper, we propose an improved walk model for simulating the train movement on railway network. In the proposed method, walkers represent trains. The improved walk model is a kind of the network-based simulation analysis model. Using some management rules for walker movement, walker can dynamically determine its departure and arrival times at stations. In order to test the proposed method, we simulate the train movement on a part of railway network. The numerical simulation and analytical results demonstrate that the improved model is an effective tool for simulating the train movement on railway network. Moreover, it can well capture the characteristic behaviors of train scheduling in railway traffic.

A simulation-based optimization approach for passenger train timetabling with periodic track maintenance and stops for praying

This paper presents two optimization methods for solving the passenger train timetabling problem to minimize the total delay time in the single track railway networks. The goal of the train timetable problem is to determine departure and arrival times to or from each station in order to prevent collisions between trains and effective utilization of resources. The two proposed methods are based on integration of a simulation and an optimization method to simulate train traffic flow and generate near optimal train timetable under realistic con- straints including stops for track maintenance and praying. The first proposed method integrates a cellular automata （CA） simulation model with genetic algorithm optimiza- tion method. In the second proposed approach, a CA simulation model combines with dynamically dimensioned search optimization method. The proposed models are applied to hypothetical case study to demonstrate the merit of them. The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways （IRIR） data and regulations have been used to optimize train timetable. The results show the first method is more effi- cient than the second method to obtain near optimal train timetabling.