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Mischa Nugent

Grad Dipl BA, M Org

Systemwide Pty Ltd

Rail capacity and the lack thereof is currently an omnipresent issue discussed in the rail industry, government and society. The number of services that can be reliably operated on a network, during a defined period, defines rail track capacity. However, assessing capacity is complex, since numerous aspects such infrastructure layout, rollingstock performance, timetable and other general operational issues must be considered. Nevertheless, quantifying capacity is important, since it provides an impartial view on complex capacity issues, determines the capacity constraint and assesses the benefits of capacity enhancing investments.

The key concept in rail capacity assessment is that capacity and on-time reliability are inseparably linked. Rail capacity cannot be properly quantified with out considering reliability, since by definition, the minimal acceptable reliability defines capacity.

Established techniques and state-of-the-art software tools such as RailSys provide planners with a good basis for their capacity planning tasks. By using an iterative and incremental capacity assessment approach, insight can be provided early and stakeholders can be well integrated into the assessment process.

The best-practice capacity analysis approach for signalling upgrade projects can be divided into three main steps: parametric analysis, static simulation and finally, dynamic simulation. It is important to note that only through dynamic simulation can on-time reliability be accurately estimated. Therefore, dynamic simulation is the ultimate capacity assessment method.