Author(s)

A. D. Middelkoop & L. Loeve

Abstract

Due to the high occupancy rate of the Dutch rail network it is difficult to handle future transport demand by the introduction of more trains. The main challenges are on one hand generating a feasible timetable and at the same time meeting performance criteria e.g. punctuality and train delays. Possible solutions are extension of infrastructure capacity and/or adjustment of the timetable structure. Besides those more common measures there is a third option that focuses on traffic management. These measures concern operational and planning issues such as increasing the level of flexibility in daily operation, e.g. by better decision support systems, and decreasing the level of detail in the planning stage. In order to quantify the improvements of such measures, Dutch Inframanager ProRail uses simulation. This simulation approach requires new functionality, regarding train control mechanisms. One of the first studies performed with this kind of simulation is the important bottleneck Schiphol station. Following this approach the development of a more general simulation tool has been started. This tool is called FRISO: Flexible Rail Infrastructure Simulation of Operations. Important features of this tool are the automatized construction of a simulation model by using a connection to an existing infrastructure database, flexible infrastructure editor including generator functions and the possibility to perform single and multiple (stochastic) simulation experiments. A special feature is the possibility to connect to an existing external traffic management system (TMS). By this connection the effects of TMS-variants may be quantified. The software architecture contains synchronisation mechanisms that allow consistent time management and interaction between the simulator FRISO and TMS or other applications. TMS can take over internal FRISO train dispatching tasks to optimise the train traffic in a local area. It is designed to improve traffic control by means of advisory speeds, routes and order of trains. Keywords: simulation, traffic management, distributed simulation.

Keywords

simulation, traffic management, distributed simulation.