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A Methodology for Monitoring Rail Punctuality Improvements

Palmqvist, C. W. LU orcid and Kristoffersson, I. (2022) In IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems 3. p.388-396
Abstract

Punctuality is an important aspect of train operations, highly valued by passengers. Both Swedish and Norwegian railways have introduced frameworks to systematically improve punctuality in their systems, inspired by an extensive literature on Total Quality Management. After about a decade with these frameworks, we can see that punctuality has risen by about 2-3 percentage points. However, this pace of improvements is slower than desired. We propose that there is a gap between what most individual improvement efforts deliver, and what can be detected by directly monitoring punctuality. This gap stifles the desired culture of constant improvements. We instead propose a methodology for how to monitor punctuality improvements, by focusing... (More)

Punctuality is an important aspect of train operations, highly valued by passengers. Both Swedish and Norwegian railways have introduced frameworks to systematically improve punctuality in their systems, inspired by an extensive literature on Total Quality Management. After about a decade with these frameworks, we can see that punctuality has risen by about 2-3 percentage points. However, this pace of improvements is slower than desired. We propose that there is a gap between what most individual improvement efforts deliver, and what can be detected by directly monitoring punctuality. This gap stifles the desired culture of constant improvements. We instead propose a methodology for how to monitor punctuality improvements, by focusing on the constituents of a train trip. Using 20 years of data from commuter trains in three metropolitan regions (Stockholm, Gothenburg & Malmö), we show the frequency of runtime and dwell time delays is directly related to punctuality. These delay frequencies are also easy to measure and target, and more easily capture the intended effects of specific improvement efforts. Our hope is that this framework and measures such as these will better enable systematic efforts to improve railway punctuality.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Public transport, rail transportation, rail transportation reliability, railway monitoring
in
IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems
volume
3
pages
9 pages
publisher
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85134823766
ISSN
2687-7813
DOI
10.1109/OJITS.2022.3172509
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2020 IEEE.
id
a2d8e1ed-4a0c-407c-8acc-1f1386654c24
date added to LUP
2023-02-13 06:38:00
date last changed
2023-11-06 23:23:58
@article{a2d8e1ed-4a0c-407c-8acc-1f1386654c24,
  abstract     = {{<p>Punctuality is an important aspect of train operations, highly valued by passengers. Both Swedish and Norwegian railways have introduced frameworks to systematically improve punctuality in their systems, inspired by an extensive literature on Total Quality Management. After about a decade with these frameworks, we can see that punctuality has risen by about 2-3 percentage points. However, this pace of improvements is slower than desired. We propose that there is a gap between what most individual improvement efforts deliver, and what can be detected by directly monitoring punctuality. This gap stifles the desired culture of constant improvements. We instead propose a methodology for how to monitor punctuality improvements, by focusing on the constituents of a train trip. Using 20 years of data from commuter trains in three metropolitan regions (Stockholm, Gothenburg &amp; Malmö), we show the frequency of runtime and dwell time delays is directly related to punctuality. These delay frequencies are also easy to measure and target, and more easily capture the intended effects of specific improvement efforts. Our hope is that this framework and measures such as these will better enable systematic efforts to improve railway punctuality.</p>}},
  author       = {{Palmqvist, C. W. and Kristoffersson, I.}},
  issn         = {{2687-7813}},
  keywords     = {{Public transport; rail transportation; rail transportation reliability; railway monitoring}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{388--396}},
  publisher    = {{IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.}},
  series       = {{IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems}},
  title        = {{A Methodology for Monitoring Rail Punctuality Improvements}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/OJITS.2022.3172509}},
  doi          = {{10.1109/OJITS.2022.3172509}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}