Author(s)

S. Buchmueller1, U. Weidmann1 & A. Nash2

Abstract

Accurately estimating station dwell time is critical for timetable planning. Its importance has increased as railways seek to improve timetable stability and network efficiency, while serving more passengers and different types of transport services. This research consisted of developing a station dwell time model in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The proposed model estimates dwell times based on the input parameters: vehicle type (number, position, width and level of doorways), infrastructure (platform level) and demand (number and distribution of passengers). The research divides dwell time into five sub-processes: door-unblocking, opening doors, passenger boarding/alighting, closing doors and train dispatching. Each sub-process was evaluated separately to understand its influence on dwell time. The SBB’s automatic passenger counting system was used to record the number of passengers boarding and alighting at each door and the beginning/ending time of each sub-process. During eight months over three million measurements were made on four different vehicle types operating on 20 different routes. These data were analyzed and used to develop the dwell time model. This paper describes the research methodology, the structure of the dwell time model, the data collection system and presents a summary of results including statistical distribution and influence factors of sub-process times. Keywords: timetable planning, dwell time, dwell process, boarding/alighting process, railway process times, S-Bahn train, regional train, automatic passenger counting system.

Keywords

timetable planning, dwell time, dwell process, boarding/alighting process, railway process times, S-Bahn train, regional train, automatic passenger counting system.