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Real-time High-Speed Train Delay Prediction using Seemingly Unrelated Regression Models

Tiong, Kah Yong LU ; Ma, Zhenliang and Palmqvist, Carl William LU orcid (2025) 16th World Conference on Transport Research, WCTR 2023 In Transportation Research Procedia 82. p.271-278
Abstract

Understanding the impact of various factors on train arrival delays is a prerequisite for effective railway traffic operating control and management. Existing studies model the train delay prediction problems using a single, generic equation, restricting their capability in accounting for heterogeneous impacts of spatiotemporal factors on arrival delays as the train travels along its route. The paper proposes a set of equations conditional on the train location for predicting train arrival delays at stations. We develop a seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) model to estimate the coefficients simultaneously while considering potential correlations between prediction residuals caused by shared unobserved variables (e.g., driver... (More)

Understanding the impact of various factors on train arrival delays is a prerequisite for effective railway traffic operating control and management. Existing studies model the train delay prediction problems using a single, generic equation, restricting their capability in accounting for heterogeneous impacts of spatiotemporal factors on arrival delays as the train travels along its route. The paper proposes a set of equations conditional on the train location for predicting train arrival delays at stations. We develop a seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) model to estimate the coefficients simultaneously while considering potential correlations between prediction residuals caused by shared unobserved variables (e.g., driver characteristics). The operational data for high-speed trains on Sweden's Southern Mainline from 2016 to 2020 is used to validate the proposed model and explore the effects of operation-related factors on train arrival delays. The results confirm the necessity of developing a set of station-specific delay prediction models to understand the heterogeneous impact of explanatory variables, and SURE provides more efficient parameter estimations than the traditional ordinary least squares regression (OLS). The important factors impacting train arrival delays include the scheduled and actual running time, scheduled dwell time, and train arrival delays at preceding stations. However, the impact of these factors could vary depending on where the station is, and different types of operating management strategies should be targeted.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Operating factors, Seemingly unrelated regression, Statistical modeling, Train arrival delays
in
Transportation Research Procedia
volume
82
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
conference name
16th World Conference on Transport Research, WCTR 2023
conference location
Montreal, Canada
conference dates
2023-07-17 - 2023-07-21
external identifiers
  • scopus:85216252673
ISSN
2352-1457
DOI
10.1016/j.trpro.2024.12.042
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors.
id
e94ea3f3-19a6-4df4-9c4e-f9a95d301965
date added to LUP
2025-02-06 13:50:40
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:33:30
@article{e94ea3f3-19a6-4df4-9c4e-f9a95d301965,
  abstract     = {{<p>Understanding the impact of various factors on train arrival delays is a prerequisite for effective railway traffic operating control and management. Existing studies model the train delay prediction problems using a single, generic equation, restricting their capability in accounting for heterogeneous impacts of spatiotemporal factors on arrival delays as the train travels along its route. The paper proposes a set of equations conditional on the train location for predicting train arrival delays at stations. We develop a seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) model to estimate the coefficients simultaneously while considering potential correlations between prediction residuals caused by shared unobserved variables (e.g., driver characteristics). The operational data for high-speed trains on Sweden's Southern Mainline from 2016 to 2020 is used to validate the proposed model and explore the effects of operation-related factors on train arrival delays. The results confirm the necessity of developing a set of station-specific delay prediction models to understand the heterogeneous impact of explanatory variables, and SURE provides more efficient parameter estimations than the traditional ordinary least squares regression (OLS). The important factors impacting train arrival delays include the scheduled and actual running time, scheduled dwell time, and train arrival delays at preceding stations. However, the impact of these factors could vary depending on where the station is, and different types of operating management strategies should be targeted.</p>}},
  author       = {{Tiong, Kah Yong and Ma, Zhenliang and Palmqvist, Carl William}},
  issn         = {{2352-1457}},
  keywords     = {{Operating factors; Seemingly unrelated regression; Statistical modeling; Train arrival delays}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{271--278}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Transportation Research Procedia}},
  title        = {{Real-time High-Speed Train Delay Prediction using Seemingly Unrelated Regression Models}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2024.12.042}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.trpro.2024.12.042}},
  volume       = {{82}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}