Optimization Based High-Speed Railway Train Rescheduling with Speed Restriction

A decision support framework with four components is proposed for high-speed railway timetable rescheduling in case of speed restriction. The first module provides the speed restriction information. The capacity evaluation module is used to evaluate whether the capacity can fulfill the demand before rescheduling timetable based on deduction factor method. The bilayer rescheduling module is the key of the decision support framework. In the bilayer rescheduling module, the upper-layer objective is to make an optimal rerouting plan with selected rerouting actions. Given a specific rerouting plan, the lower-layer focuses on minimizing the total delay as well as the number of seriously impacted trains. The result assessment module is designed to invoke the rescheduling model iteratively with different settings. There are three prominent features of the framework, such as realized interaction with dispatchers, emphasized passengers’ satisfaction, and reduced computation complexity with a bilayer modeling approach. The proposed rescheduling model is simulated on the busiest part of Beijing to Shanghai high-speed railway in China. The case study shows the significance of rerouting strategy and utilization of the railway network capacity in case of speed restriction. 1. Introduction China is extensively developing the infrastructure of high-speed railway. The target is to cover its major economic areas with a high-speed railway network, which consists of four horizontal and four vertical lines, in the following several years. The network scale is much larger than any other existing ones in the world. In the network, Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line connects Beijing (the capital of China) and Shanghai (the biggest economic centre of China), and it goes through Yangtze River Delta region (the best developed area in China). Thus, people describe it as the North-South Aorta of China. As designed, trains of different speeds will be operated in a mixed way on the network with a minimum headway of 3 minutes. In other words, it has the characteristics of high train speed, high train frequency, and mixed train speed (HHM). A basic train timetable essentially provides the arrival time of trains at stations and the corresponding departure time from the stations. Based on the timetable, the dwell time of trains at the stations (which is 0 if they do not stop) and the departure order of trains from the trains can be derived. During daily operation, disturbances to the timetable are inevitable, which may be caused by emergencies like natural disasters, accidents, or