The Influence of First-Delay Location and Timetable Recovery Strategies on Knock-on Delay of Taiwan Regional Railway

Abstract

Train delays in railway system are affected by many factors, and one of the most important factors is the insufficient line capacity. Knock-on delays (delay propagation) caused by the first delays, always interrupt railway operation. This research uses a previously developed simulation model to deal with the related problems, and selects a rail section from Cidu to Shulin of Taiwan regional railway for case study, in order to explore the effects on knock-on delay of different first delay locations and recovery strategies. The main findings are as follows: (1) the closer that the first delay occurred at upstream section, the greater the knock-on delay of all stations and two end-stations are; (2) the effects of timetable recovery strategies are better in recovering to scheduled timetable when the first delay occurred at the upstream section. It is expected that the results can provide more insights about the complex interactions of railway operations.