In railways operation many casual or programmed factors (equipment faults, traffic peaks, unexpected local delays) may delay a train from the scheduled timetable. As a consequence of a single train delay, follow-up delays and traffic disruption may occur, due to competition by trains for relevant resources (i.e. infrastructures, rolling stock). The task of the dispatchers of centralised Traffic Management System is to contain such a situation bringing back train circulation on scheduled timetable, requiring them to detect conflicts in advance and to forecast and evaluate consequences of their decisions on possible control actions. Suitable support tools are therefore requested, capable of suggesting solutions and evaluating consequences, by means of a prompt and clear interaction with the dispatcher. The main objective of the Multilevel Advanced Railways Conflict resolution and Operation control (MARCO) project is to find algorithms to optimise train traffic when normal schedules are somehow disturbed, verifying in how far the different computer algorithms are suitable for assisting the dispatcher.
Samenvatting