Timetabling
Network Diagram ICE
The computer-added generation of timetables gains noticably importance to the strategic timetabling in railway transportation due to the application of more efficient mathematical methods and increasing computational capacities. On the one hand the computer added timetabling supports the timetabling specialist through enhancing its work efficiency. On the other hand modern timetabling methods provide the possibility to generate and evaluate several timetables. Transportation and infrastructure companies can thus analyze the available infrastructure with special respect to meaningful traffic-related measures. Therefore, the prompt, automatic and especially conflict-free generation and optimization of timetables is of special significance.
The programm system TAKT is in undergoing development by the Chair of Traffic Flow Science as an instrument to generate strategic railway timetables. TAKT provides the possibility to automatically generate and to mathematically optimized timetables for a predetermined railway infrastructure and an associated operating program to the operator. In corporation with DB Netz AG, the program system TAKT was successfully tested in several field tests in Nordrhein-Westfalen and in the regions of Central Germany, South-Western Germany and in the Rhein corridor including the complete surrounding network of rail-bound local and long-distance passenger as well as freight transport. The knowledge acquired during field testing led to further improvements of TAKT.
The practical use of TAKT demonstrates the automatic generation of timetables for both, the rail-bound passenger and freight transport. The optimization of timetables follows automatically. As result, several timetable variants are applicable for evaluation with forcus on transportation quality through the user. The solution of the planning problem considers manifold diverse requirements which are partially contrary to one another. Furthermore, TAKT is conceptionized to handle large and complex real-world railway networks. TAKT offers the opportunity to the timetable scheduler to control the planning process at any time. The algorithms and the implementation of TAKT are exceedingly efficiently and provokes thereby a very good program manageability. The program delivers in justifiable computing times transportation-optimal results.
Contact Person
Selected Publications
Opitz, J.:
Automatische Erzeugung und Optimierung von Taktfahrplänen in Schienenverkehrsnetzen.
Dissertation TU Dresden. Wiesbaden: Gabler Verlag, 2009.
Nachtigall, K.; Opitz, J.:
A Modulo Network Simplex Method for Solving Periodic Timetable.
Proceedings zur OR2007, Heidelberg, 2008.
Nachtigall, K.; Opitz, J.:
Solving Periodic Timetable Optimisation Problems by Modulo Simplex Calculations.
ATMOS 2008, Karlsruhe, 18.09. 2008.
Nachtigall, K.; Opitz, J.:
A Modulo Network Simplex Method for Solving Periodic Timetable.
International Conference of the German Operations Research Society (GOR), Saarbrücken, 2007.
Keywords
~ program for timetabling (TAKT) of person and freight rail-bound transport
~ strategic scheduling in railway transportation
~ automatic generation of conflict-free timetable variants
~ analysis of existing infrastructure
~ generation and optimization of feasible timetables for given infrastructure and associated oprating programs