Computer Science > Data Structures and Algorithms
[Submitted on 21 Mar 2010]
Title:Phase Synchronization in Railway Timetables
View PDFAbstract:Timetable construction belongs to the most important optimization problems in public transport. Finding optimal or near-optimal timetables under the subsidiary conditions of minimizing travel times and other criteria is a targeted contribution to the functioning of public transport. In addition to efficiency (given, e.g., by minimal average travel times), a significant feature of a timetable is its robustness against delay propagation. Here we study the balance of efficiency and robustness in long-distance railway timetables (in particular the current long-distance railway timetable in Germany) from the perspective of synchronization, exploiting the fact that a major part of the trains run nearly periodically. We find that synchronization is highest at intermediate-sized stations. We argue that this synchronization perspective opens a new avenue towards an understanding of railway timetables by representing them as spatio-temporal phase patterns. Robustness and efficiency can then be viewed as properties of this phase pattern.
Submission history
From: Christoph Fretter [view email][v1] Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:00:06 UTC (1,759 KB)
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