Optimal Operation Strategies for the Bus-Mode Operation of Intercity High-Speed Rail Service: A Novel Ticketing/Exchanging Mechanism

The high-speed rail, offering train services with affordable fares and expedient quality, is playing a pivotal role for the intercity commuting in many counties (e.g., China). However, effected by the demand fluctuation, it is commonly observed that the tickets for train services in peak hours are sold out early, while many seats are left empty during off-peak hours. Noticing that time-dependent pricing measure is too aggregated to cater for individualized demand, this study proposes a novel ticketing/exchanging scheme allowing passengers to exchange for a highly-demanded and already-sold ticket with certain endogenously generated compensation. With assumption that this ticketing/exchanging scheme is applied in high-speed rail service operation, this study aims to determine the optimal operation strategies including the fleet size and timetable to optimize certain objectives from both operator’s and passengers’ perspectives. This problem is formulated into a two-stage stochastic programming, and a heuristic solution algorithm is designed to solve it efficiently. Numerical experiments are conducted to validate the model formulation and solution method in the context of real practice in the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway.