Analytical Method for the Precise and Fast Prediction of Railway Running Times and its Applications

The precise and fast prediction of running times is extremely important in railway operations and management. This paper deals with the analytical calculation of railway running times. It contains a new method for the computation of the acceleration process, leading to a fast and compact simulation framework. The approach is compared to a common algorithm, the velocity micro-step Euler-method. Additionally, the accuracy of the new acceleration calculation method is also compared to empirical acceleration behavior of a standard commuter train in Germany. As a result, three suggestions for the application of the algorithm (the calculation of minimum headway times, energy consumption of a train, and energy-efficient driving in the context of track capacity) are shown.