Method to Determine Emergency Stop Position of Trains to Avoid Flash Floods

Abstract

In recent years, local intense rainstorms that are difficult to predict until just before the occurrence (about 30 min before) have been occurring more frequently, resulting in a higher risk of trains being interfered with, or even caught in a flash flood. This paper introduces a method to determine the optimal stopping position for trains to avoid such flash floods, with a reasonably fast mathematical optimization calculation. The method provides decision makers with informative solutions applicable to train operations on a quantitative basis when a local intense rainstorm is predicted.