Station Capacity

Stations are often limiting the capacity of railway networks. This is due to extra need of tracks when trains stand still, trains turning around, and conflicting train routes. Although stations are often the capacity bottlenecks, most capacity analysis methods focus on open line capacity. Therefore, this paper presents methods to analyze station capacity. Four methods to analyze station capacity are developed. The first method is an adapted UIC 406 capacity method that can be used to analyze switch zones and platform tracks at stations that are not too complex. The second method examines the need for platform tracks and the probability that arriving trains will not get a platform track immediately at arrival. The third method is a scalable method that analyzes the conflicts in the switch zone(s). In its simplest stage, the method just analyzes the track layout while the more advanced stages also take the probability of conflicts and the minimum headway times into account. The last method analyzes how optimal platform tracks are used by examining the arrival and departure pattern of the trains. The developed methods can either be used separately to analyze specific characteristics of the capacity of a station or used in a combined approach giving comprehensive knowledge about the station. Furthermore, the paper shows how the developed methods can be used to analyze initiatives for improving the capacity of a complex station like Copenhagen central station.