A survey of approaches for prioritizing trains in congested railroad networks

On potentially highly congested railroad networks, demand for passenger and freight transport is affected not only by the available capacity but also by the consequences of the achieved punctuality and regularity: Poor on-time performance increases travel costs and, hence, makes rail less competitive toward other modes. It is, therefore, paramount to ensure a good punctuality record of the network, also in the case of disruptions and delays of single trains. On the tactical leveL well-planned timetables help to achieve both a high capacity utilization and good punctuality. On the operational level, advanced approaches for rescheduling or prioritizing trains can support dispatchers controlling the traffic flow. In this report, we discuss issues to be considered when prioritizing trains and describe the most common approaches. Furthermore, we give a brief overview of some of the train dispatching systems currently in use and examples of where they are being used. We also present some of the latest academic developments in more advanced decision support far train prioritization on the operational level This also includes results of experimental studies for coordinating decisions over a larger part of the network. Finally, we discuss how to connect the dispatching of trains with incentive systems. Oppdragsgiver: Regionalt Forskningsfond Hovedstaden