201807 – Chan – Managing Complex Railways: Dynamic Timetabling and Remote Equipment Diagnostics

Australia’s urban population density increase poses many new challenges, such as increased network density, unpredictability and complexity, while keeping up with the increased expectations of accessibility, reliability and punctuality. This paper discusses the implementation of Dynamic Timetabling and Remote Equipment Diagnostics within Centralised Traffic Control Systems; how these functionalities can be utilized in tackling these new challenges without the blowout of operational costs and overhead associated with conventional methods, such as increasing the number of services and speeds.

Dynamic Timetabling, when paired with train automation modules such as Automatic Route Setting, can dynamically determine the optimal operational train speed, dwell times, number of services to use in relation to passenger demand and other traffic conditions. Furthermore, Dynamic Timetabling can assist in the changes of services during unplanned or irregular disruptions that can easily impact railway operations with disastrous outcomes such as special events and trackside breakdowns where planned trips can no longer achieve delivery or punctuality.

Remote Equipment Diagnostics involves the pairing of a reporting module with trackside sensors that read wear and tear of key trackside equipment, such as points and train wheels to ensure that they are preventatively serviced without incurring the associated overhead for regular inspections and assuring an early replacement of functional parts. Such sensors vary in application, such as temperature and timing factors, and data can be fed back into the Remote Equipment Diagnostics to predict the remaining life expectancy of various trackside equipment and whether specific equipment require maintenance attention.