Benders Decomposition for Passenger-Oriented Train Timetabling with Hybrid Periodicity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid periodic train timetabling model that improves flexibility and demand responsiveness by integrating schedule adjustments and aperiodic insertions, guided by passenger routing, using advanced decomposition algorithms.

Contribution

It develops a novel hybrid periodic timetabling model with integrated passenger routing and proposes an efficient decomposition-based solution algorithm.

Findings

Hybrid timetables reduce passenger travel costs.

The proposed algorithm effectively solves complex real-world instances.

Hybrid periodic timetables enhance service flexibility and demand adaptation.

Abstract

Periodic timetables are widely adopted in passenger railway operations due to their regular service patterns and well-coordinated train connections. However, fluctuations in passenger demand require varying train services across different periods, necessitating adjustments to the periodic timetable. This study addresses a hybrid periodic train timetabling problem, which enhances the flexibility and demand responsiveness of a given periodic timetable through schedule adjustments and aperiodic train insertions, taking into account the rolling stock circulation. Since timetable modifications may affect initial passenger routes, passenger routing is incorporated into the problem to guide planning decisions towards a passenger-oriented objective. Using a time-space network representation, the problem is formulated as a dynamic railway service network design model with resource constraints. To handle the complexity of real-world instances, we propose a decomposition-based algorithm integrating Benders decomposition and column generation, enhanced with multiple preprocessing and accelerating techniques. Numerical experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm and highlight the advantage of hybrid periodic timetables in reducing passenger travel costs.