Potential for Moving Blocks and Train Fleets to Enable Faster Train Meets on Single-Track Rail Corridors
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146, Issue 8
Abstract
On single-track rail corridors, meets between trains are a significant source of train delay. From the stopping train’s perspective, a meet can be divided into three distinct phases: braking into a siding, waiting for higher-priority trains to pass, and accelerating to operating speed on the main track. Meet delay can be further divided into fixed and variable components depending on the number of trains partaking in the meet. Advanced train control systems incorporating moving blocks and innovative dispatching strategies such as train fleeting promise to reduce minimum meet times. Using a spreadsheet-based calculation, it was found that train fleeting distributes fixed delays among more train conflicts, resulting in more efficient conflict resolution. Complementarily, moving blocks minimize variable delays. Combining moving blocks and fleeting can be highly effective, producing the lowest meet delay across a variety of track speeds and dispatching strategies. The results from this study can help railway practitioners evaluate the benefits of train fleeting, moving blocks, shorter train lengths, and extended fleet-length sidings when developing operating and capital plans.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The following spreadsheets and incorporated macros were used in this research: Braking and Acceleration Calculator, Train Meet Calculator, RTC Delay Calculator, and Figure Data.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the National University Rail Center (NURail), a US DOT OST Tier 1 University Transportation Center, and the Association of American Railroads. The first author was partially supported by the CN Research Fellowship in Railroad Engineering. The authors thank Eric Wilson of Berkeley Simulation Software, LLC, for the use of Rail Traffic Controller simulation software and technical support.
References
AAR (Association of American Railroads). 2019a. “Positive train control fact sheet.” Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/AAR-PTC-Fact-Sheet-2019.pdf.
AAR (Association of American Railroads). 2019b. “The economic impact of America’s freight railroads.” Accessed February 24, 2020. https://www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/AAR-Economic-Impact-US-Freight-Railroads.pdf.
Afonso, P. A., and C. F. Bispo. 2011. “Railway traffic management: Meet and pass problem.” J. Syst. Manage. Sci. 1 (6): 1–26.
Andersen, D. R. 1995. Study of the sensitivity of predicted stopping distance to changes to input parameters. Pueblo, CO: Association of American Railroads.
ASCE. 2017. 2017 infrastructure report card. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Barrow, K. 2015. “Pilbara’s heavyweight champion flexes its muscles.” Int. Railway J. 55 (11): 20–24.
Boysen, H. 2013. “Quicker meets, heavier loads and faster empties—Effects on transportation capacity and cycle time.” In Proc., 10th Int. Heavy Haul Association (IHHA) Conf. Virginia Beach, VA: IHHA.
Brosseau, J., B. M. Ede, S. Pate, R. Wiley, and J. Drapa. 2013. Development of an operationally efficient PTC braking enforcement algorithm for freight trains. Washington, DC: Federal Railroad Administration.
Carlson, F. 1999. Braking considerations for positive train control. Pueblo, CO: Transportation Technology Center.
Diaz de Rivera, A., C. T. Dick, and L. E. Evans. 2020. “Improving railway operational efficiency with moving blocks, train fleeting, and alternative single-track configurations.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2674 (2): 146–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120905842.
Dick, C. T., and D. Mussanov. 2016. “Operational schedule flexibility and infrastructure investment: Capacity trade-off on single-track railways.” Transp. Res. Record 2546 (1): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3141/2546-01.
Dick, C. T., D. Mussanov, L. E. Evans, G. S. Roscoe, and T.-Y. Chang. 2019a. “Relative capacity and performance of fixed and moving block control systems on North American freight railway lines and shared passenger corridors.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2673 (5): 250–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198119841852.
Dick, C. T., D. Mussanov, and N. Nishio. 2019b. “Transitioning from flexible to structured heavy haul operations to expand the capacity of single-track shared corridors in North America.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F: J. Rail Rapid Transit 233 (6): 629–639. https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409718804427.
Dingler, M., A. Koenig, S. Sogin, and C. P. L. Barkan. 2010. “Determining the causes of train delay.” In Proc., 2010 American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Annual Conf. Lanham, MD: AREMA.
Dingler, M. H., Y.-C. Lai (Rex), and C. P. L. Barkan. 2009. “Impact of train type heterogeneity on single-track railway capacity.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2117 (1): 41–49. https://doi.org/10.3141/2117-06.
Drish, W. F., and S. P. Singh. 1991. Train energy model validation using revenue service unit coal train data. Chicago: Association of American Railroads.
FRA (Federal Railroad Administration). 2012. Positive train control implementation status, issues, and impacts. Washington, DC: FRA.
Frank, O. 1966. “Two-way traffic on a single line of railway.” Oper. Res. 14 (5): 801–811. https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.14.5.801.
Gorman, M. F. 2009. “Statistical estimation of railroad congestion delay.” Transp. Res. Part E: Logist. Transp. Rev. 45 (3): 446–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2008.08.004.
Harriss, L. 2016. “Moving block signalling.” In POSTbrief. London: Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology.
Harrod, S. 2007. “Railway capacity management and planning.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Quantitative Analysis and Operations Management, College of Business, Univ. of Cincinnati.
Hay, W. W. 1982. Railroad engineering. New York: Wiley.
Institute for Transport Science RWTH Aachen. 2008. Influence of ETCS on line capacity. Paris: Generic Study, International Union of Railways.
Lindfeldt, O. 2012. “From single to double track: Effects of alternative extension measures.” In Computers in railways XIII, 313–324. New Forest, UK: WIT Press.
Lovett, A. H. 2017. “Railroad decision support tools for track maintenance.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lovett, A. H., C. T. Dick, and C. P. L. Barkan. 2015. “Determining freight train delay costs on railroad lines in North America.” In Proc., Int. Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR) 6th Int. Conf. on Railway Operations Modelling and Analysis, Delft, Netherlands: IAROR.
Machalaba, D. 2019. “Past prime: No technology is forever; we’re living that lesson now.” In Trains, 30–37. Milwaukee WI: Kalmbach Media.
Martland, C. D. 2008. Railroad train delay and network reliability. Pueblo, CO: Transportation Technology Center.
Moore Ede, W. J., A. Polivka, and J. Tunna. 2007. “Optimizing capacity by trade-offs among train control, infrastructure, mechanical, and engineering considerations.” In Proc., International Heavy Haul Association (IHHA) Specialist Technical Session. Virginia Beach, VA: IHHA.
Petersen, E. R., and A. J. Taylor. 1987. “Design of a single track rail line for high speed trains.” Transp. Res. Part A 21A (1): 47–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-2607(87)90023-9.
Poole, E. C. 1962. Costs—A Tool for railroad management. New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation.
Pouryousef, H., P. Lautala, and T. White. 2015. “Railroad capacity tools and methodologies in the U.S. and Europe.” J. Modern Transp. 23 (1): 30–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40534-015-0069-z.
Resor, R. R., M. E. Smith, and P. K. Patel. 2005. “Positive train control (PTC): Calculating benefits and costs of a new railroad control technology.” J. Transp. Res. Forum 44 (2): 77–98. https://doi.org/10.5399/osu/jtrf.44.2.841.
Richards and Cobb. 2006. “Multiple-track main lines.” In Trains.
Rodrigue, J.-P., and B. Slack. 2020. “Rail transportation and pipelines.” In The geography of transport systems. 5th ed. New York: Routledge.
Shih, M.-C., C. T. Dick, S. L. Sogin, and C. P. L. Barkan. 2014. “Comparison of capacity expansion strategies for single-track railway lines with sparse sidings.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2448 (1): 53–61. https://doi.org/10.3141/2448-07.
Sogin, S., C. P. L. Barkan, and M. R. Saat. 2011. “Simulating the effects of higher speed passenger trains in single track freight networks.” In Proc., Winter Simulation Conf., 3679–3687. New York: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Sogin, S. L., Y.-C. Lai (Rex), C. T. Dick, and C. P. Barkan. 2016. “Analyzing the transition from single- to double-track railway lines with nonlinear regression analysis.” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part F: J. Rail Rapid Transit 230 (8): 1877–1889. https://doi.org/10.1177/0954409715616998.
Stagl, J. 2018a. “Class I railroads continue the longer-train trend.” In Progressive railroading. Milwaukee WI: Trade Press Media Group.
Stagl, J. 2018b. “On a high-tech trek: Norfolk Southern notes progress in its quest to become a ‘technology-enabled railroad of the future’.” In Progressive railroading. Milwaukee WI: Trade Press Media Group.
USDOT. 2016. Beyond traffic 2045. Washington, DC: USDOT.
White, T. 2005. “Alternatives for railroad traffic simulation analysis.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1916 (1): 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198105191600106.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 146 • Issue 8 • August 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 22, 2019
Accepted: Mar 17, 2020
Published online: May 31, 2020
Published in print: Aug 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Oct 31, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.