A computer simulation of a multiple track rail network

✍ Scribed by Samuel M. Graff; Peter Shenkin

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 525 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0895-7177
• DOI: 10.1016/0895-7177(88)90634-6

✦ Synopsis

A computer simulation of a multiple track rail segment is discussed.

The goal is to provide a capability for optimal scheduling and routing with respect to predetermined objective functions and auxiliary parameters of the problem.

The model is an extension of work which the authors have already completed for single track systems. The simulation is based on a decomposition of the line segment chosen into fundamental units representing node to node subsegments with each node being an interlocking of the real system. A local minmax decision subroutine is activated every time a train reaches a node; all feasible options are then examined with respect to the current configuration of the system. Execution time for four trains on a 250 mile segment using a Compaq personal computer and only a translator is approximately 8 minutes implying that real time on-line capability is possible.