Delays and Timetabling for Passenger Trains
Palmqvist, Carl-William LU
(2019)
In Bulletin
317.
- Abstract
- Travel by train has increased steadily in Sweden the last 30 years. The pace has been about two to three percent per year, and we now have twice as many passengers. With growing awareness of the changing climate, the pace is increasing further.
A problem that affects both passengers and businesses in Sweden is train delays. One way to describe these is as the share of trains that arrive less than six minutes delayed. About 90% of trains in Sweden meet this standard and have done so for many years. In a way this is impressive, since there are now many more trains. Unfortunately, this also means that more and more passengers are affected by delays. This leads to irritation, threatens the shift of traffic to railways, and costs a... (More) - Travel by train has increased steadily in Sweden the last 30 years. The pace has been about two to three percent per year, and we now have twice as many passengers. With growing awareness of the changing climate, the pace is increasing further.
A problem that affects both passengers and businesses in Sweden is train delays. One way to describe these is as the share of trains that arrive less than six minutes delayed. About 90% of trains in Sweden meet this standard and have done so for many years. In a way this is impressive, since there are now many more trains. Unfortunately, this also means that more and more passengers are affected by delays. This leads to irritation, threatens the shift of traffic to railways, and costs a lot for society. More trains must arrive on time.
This thesis shows that delays are mostly caused by small disturbances – up to a minute or two. Over long journeys, these small disturbances accumulate and sometimes cause quite big delays. These delays mostly occur at stations, where the trains stop, but are then unable to continue on time. It is difficult to say exactly what causes these small disturbances, but the time that the trains are supposed to be at stations – the dwell times – are often too short. Another pattern is seen between delays and weather: if it is either warm or cold, delays increase rapidly. And while winter and snow return every year, they still cause major disruptions.
The thesis holds a few suggestions to reduce delays. One is platform markings that show where the trains will stop, where the doors will be, and where the passengers should wait. This is an easy and affordable way to speed up the stops, so that the trains depart on time. Another measure is to remove switches. Then there are fewer parts that can fail, and those that remain can be maintained to a higher standard. A third way is to adapt the railway, so that it better withstands the weather variations of today, and the climate changes of tomorrow. Something that has been done in other countries is to shade and air-condition electronics and signals along the railway. Then the components to not overheat, and more trains run on time.
Many things can also be done with timetables, so that more trains run on time, without a rise in costs. More of the planning can be automated. Then more time can be spent on giving trains appropriate dwell times. Infrastructure managers should also do more to evaluate and improve the rules and guidelines that govern timetabling. In this way we can improve timetables gradually from year to year, with fewer and fewer delays as a consequence. These suggestions do not solve all of the railway’s issues, but they would lead to many more trains arriving on time.
(Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Resandet med tåg har ökat stadigt i Sverige de senaste 30 åren. Takten har varit cirka två-tre procent per år, och vi nu har mer än dubbelt så många resenärer. Med ökat fokus på klimatfrågan stiger resandet nu ännu snabbare.
Ett problem som drabbar både resenärer och företag i Sverige är tågförseningar. Ett sätt att beskriva dessa är den andel av alla tåg som kommer fram mer än fem minuter för sent. Räknar man så är ungefär 90 procent av alla tåg punktliga. Så har det varit i många år. Det är på ett sätt imponerande, med tanke på att det nu går många fler tåg. Tyvärr gör det också att allt fler resenärer drabbas. Detta leder till stor irritation, hotar den fortsatta överflyttningen av trafik till järnväg, och kostar mycket för... (More) - Resandet med tåg har ökat stadigt i Sverige de senaste 30 åren. Takten har varit cirka två-tre procent per år, och vi nu har mer än dubbelt så många resenärer. Med ökat fokus på klimatfrågan stiger resandet nu ännu snabbare.
Ett problem som drabbar både resenärer och företag i Sverige är tågförseningar. Ett sätt att beskriva dessa är den andel av alla tåg som kommer fram mer än fem minuter för sent. Räknar man så är ungefär 90 procent av alla tåg punktliga. Så har det varit i många år. Det är på ett sätt imponerande, med tanke på att det nu går många fler tåg. Tyvärr gör det också att allt fler resenärer drabbas. Detta leder till stor irritation, hotar den fortsatta överflyttningen av trafik till järnväg, och kostar mycket för samhället. Fler tåg behöver komma fram i tid.
Min forskning visar att förseningarna mest beror på små störningar – upp till någon minut. Över långa resor samlas dessa små störningar ihop och gör att den totala förseningen kan bli stor. De här störningarna sker mest på stationer, där tågen ska stanna, men där de sedan inte klarar att köra vidare i tid. Det är svårt att säga exakt vad dessa störningar beror på, men den tiden tågen ska vara på stationen – uppehållstiden – är ofta för kort. Ett annat samband syns mellan förseningar och väder: om det är varmt eller kallt ökar förseningarna snabbt. Och trots att det varje år blir vinter och snö så leder det ändå till stora besvär.
Jag ger en rad förslag för att minska förseningarna. Ett är markeringar på plattformen som visar var tågen ska stanna, var dörrarna kommer vara, och var resenärerna ska stå. Det är ett enkelt och billigt sätt att snabba på uppehållen, så att tågen kommer iväg i tid. En annan åtgärd är att ta bort växlar. Då finns det färre felkällor, och de som finns kvar kan skötas bättre. Ett tredje sätt är att anpassa järnvägen, så att den tål dagens vädervariationer och de klimatförändringar som är på väg. Något man gjort i andra länder är att skugga och ventilera elektronik och signaler längs med banan. Då blir de inte blir för varma, och tågen går oftare i tid.
Med tidtabeller kan man också göra mycket för att fler tåg ska gå i tid, utan att det kostar mera. Mer av planeringen kan göras automatiskt. Då kan mer tid läggas på att ge tågen lagom långa uppehållstider. Trafikverket bör också göra mer för att följa upp och förbättra de regler och guider som finns för att planera. På så sätt kan vi få tidtabeller som blir bättre och bättre från år till år, med mindre och mindre förseningar som följd. Dessa förslag löser inte alla järnvägens problem, men de skulle leda till att många fler tåg kommer fram i tid. Då får vi plats för ännu fler tåg och resenärer på spåren.
(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/47b7c636-06a1-4e0e-a701-64375bb4055e
- author
- Palmqvist, Carl-William
LU
- opponent
-
- Dr Nyström, Birre, SWECO
- organization
- alternative title
- Förseningar och Tidtabellsplanering för Persontåg
- publishing date
- 2019-11-08
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- rail, delay, timetable, train, punctuality, Rail transportation
- in
- Bulletin
- volume
- 317
- pages
- 194 pages
- publisher
- Lund University Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Society, Transport and Roads, Lund, Sweden
- defense location
- Lecture hall V:C, building V, John Ericssons väg 1, Lund University, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund
- defense date
- 2019-11-08 10:15:00
- ISSN
- 1653-1930
- 1653-1930
- ISBN
- 9789178953103
- 9789178953110
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 47b7c636-06a1-4e0e-a701-64375bb4055e
- date added to LUP
- 2019-10-14 09:55:34
- date last changed
- 2023-05-04 15:42:48
@phdthesis{47b7c636-06a1-4e0e-a701-64375bb4055e,
abstract = {{Travel by train has increased steadily in Sweden the last 30 years. The pace has been about two to three percent per year, and we now have twice as many passengers. With growing awareness of the changing climate, the pace is increasing further. <br/><br/>A problem that affects both passengers and businesses in Sweden is train delays. One way to describe these is as the share of trains that arrive less than six minutes delayed. About 90% of trains in Sweden meet this standard and have done so for many years. In a way this is impressive, since there are now many more trains. Unfortunately, this also means that more and more passengers are affected by delays. This leads to irritation, threatens the shift of traffic to railways, and costs a lot for society. More trains must arrive on time. <br/><br/>This thesis shows that delays are mostly caused by small disturbances – up to a minute or two. Over long journeys, these small disturbances accumulate and sometimes cause quite big delays. These delays mostly occur at stations, where the trains stop, but are then unable to continue on time. It is difficult to say exactly what causes these small disturbances, but the time that the trains are supposed to be at stations – the dwell times – are often too short. Another pattern is seen between delays and weather: if it is either warm or cold, delays increase rapidly. And while winter and snow return every year, they still cause major disruptions. <br/><br/>The thesis holds a few suggestions to reduce delays. One is platform markings that show where the trains will stop, where the doors will be, and where the passengers should wait. This is an easy and affordable way to speed up the stops, so that the trains depart on time. Another measure is to remove switches. Then there are fewer parts that can fail, and those that remain can be maintained to a higher standard. A third way is to adapt the railway, so that it better withstands the weather variations of today, and the climate changes of tomorrow. Something that has been done in other countries is to shade and air-condition electronics and signals along the railway. Then the components to not overheat, and more trains run on time. <br/><br/>Many things can also be done with timetables, so that more trains run on time, without a rise in costs. More of the planning can be automated. Then more time can be spent on giving trains appropriate dwell times. Infrastructure managers should also do more to evaluate and improve the rules and guidelines that govern timetabling. In this way we can improve timetables gradually from year to year, with fewer and fewer delays as a consequence. These suggestions do not solve all of the railway’s issues, but they would lead to many more trains arriving on time. <br/>}},
author = {{Palmqvist, Carl-William}},
isbn = {{9789178953103}},
issn = {{1653-1930}},
keywords = {{rail; delay; timetable; train; punctuality; Rail transportation}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{11}},
publisher = {{Lund University Faculty of Engineering, Technology and Society, Transport and Roads, Lund, Sweden}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Bulletin}},
title = {{Delays and Timetabling for Passenger Trains}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/70626078/Carl_William_Palmqvist_web.pdf}},
volume = {{317}},
year = {{2019}},
}