Simulation, test and performance evaluation of railway control strategies and algorithms

Kirkwood, David (2015). Simulation, test and performance evaluation of railway control strategies and algorithms. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

As demand for rail transportation increases, greater demand is placed on existing railway infrastructure. This is a particular problem in Europe because railway networks that were built many years ago are required to adapt to accommodate the increased traffic. This adaptation may consist of replacing or upgrading parts of the network, creating new lines or replacing signalling systems but such changes are very costly and sometimes not possible. More efficient approaches to meet the demands of increased traffic include improving the design of timetables and using traffic management strategies to deal with unexpected perturbations to the running of the timetable.

A software architecture is proposed that detaches the signalling decision making from simulation software and provides a standard interface between a microscopic simulator and an implementation of an algorithm. The architecture is demonstrated using a railway simulator developed by the author and a number of algorithms are applied to both a simple junction scenario and a more detailed scenario consisting of a portion of the East Coast Main Line (ECML), around Kings Cross in London. A comparison is made between to demonstrate the validity of the approach.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):