Rail disruption: passenger focused recovery

In a suburban passenger railway network, a delay of a single train is likely to affect not only the passengers aboard or waiting for that train, but those on subsequent trains as well. These knock-on effects are caused by the delayed train blocking sections of track and lead to congestion and slower boarding rate on overcrowded trains. When a delay has occurred, the delayed trains and other nearby trains can be re-scheduled to minimise the detrimental effect of the delay. This paper shows how to re-schedule to minimize negative impact on passengers. A simple double track train network with a single delay is considered. The model takes into account the travel times of passengers, boarding times at stations which are lengthened when the train is crowded, and the ability of trains to bypass stations. Keywords: passenger delay, rail, disruption, recovery.