A bi-level programming approach of period-preferred train operations for high-speed railways

There are a few trains running parallelly on a congested high-speed railway corridor at different periods daily. Hence passengers can choose freely among them. Their preference of departing period choice is the main factor determining the distribution of passenger demands. The objective of this paper was to meet, to the maximum extent possible, the passengers’ preference demands of departing periods and to work out reasonable train stopping operations to avoid congestion. Firstly, two vital affecting factors, attractivity and congestion, were analyzed. Meanwhile, the passenger travel impedance function was established, and a bi-level programming model was constructed. The upper integer planning model regarded the minimum operation cost as the goal to decide train stopping operations and its running frequency. The lower model was a user-equilibrium one aimed at distributing passenger flows scheme based on the optimal train stopping operation. Finally, a heuristic algorithm embedded with Frank-Wolfe algorithm was designed based on model characteristics, and a simulation calculation was carried outto verify both the model and the algorithm. © 2021, Central South University Press. All rights reserved.