Retrieving Timetables of Tehran Metro Trains Using Robust Optimization Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Pejman Salehi 1
Mehran Khalaj 2
Davoud Jafari 2
1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Parand Branch, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Parand Branch, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/road.2025.473976.2312
Abstract
Tehran subway is usually exposed to unwanted disturbances that can cause inevitable partial or total changes in the order of the initial timetables. The result the occurrence of such unplanned events can affect the punctuality of passenger movements by making the pre-designed schedules unworkable and thus the level of desirability of subway trips. In the current situation of the Tehran metro network, the responsibility of managing and restoring timetables in the event of a disruption is the responsibility of the traffic control center managers. By providing solutions based on the principles of disturbance management, they eliminate delays such as delays in movements, cancellation of dispatches, overcrowding, etc. However, the solutions implemented by the drivers of the traffic control center are not of good quality. In addition, usually in the subway network, it is necessary to resolve the disturbances within a few minutes to prevent the cumulative effect and dispersion in the traffic of trains and lines, which is one of the challenging issues in managing the traffic of subway lines. It is counted on the other hand, considering the scale and extent of Tehran subway lines, it is necessary to have the computational complexities and the solution space for problem-solving approaches precisely defined and available so that optimal decision-making is possible. In recent years, metro traffic rescheduling models have been developed to increase the speed of table retrieval and support the decisions of traffic control centers. A recent model is the use of the "event-activity" network, which is used in this research. The mathematical relationships governing this framework are based on network diagrams that can support a wide range of tasks and rescheduling activities. Therefore, the current research has investigated the rotational movement of the train fleet in the operation of the arrival and departure of trains from the terminals and other stations along the route by using the "event-activity" network and considering the time factor. Because the establishment of optimization models increases the success rate of the results and the probability of operationalization of the traffic controller's decisions in the justified set of the solution to the problem, therefore, in the proposed model of the current research, considering the factors related to the fleet capacity and the passenger volume of the platforms, And the calculation of recovery relations of scheduling tables has been discussed. In the proposed method of the present research, by using the verification of the passenger congestion of the platforms and having a variable amount of delays in the space of the incidents, relevant control measures were implemented to increase the efficiency of the recovery of the timetables. Although the method of solving the integer linear programming problem seems difficult due to the spectrum of using binary variables, however, it enables the calculation path to accurately determine the waiting time, passenger volume, congestion and delay control. Also, a neighborhood search algorithm has been used to analyze passenger demand and improve the efficiency of the system in the face of the complications caused by the number of passenger dispatches. In this research, the neighborhood search algorithm can efficiently discover the solution appropriate to the problem state space by using the completion of the answer and in this way create a logical balance between the problem-solving time and the quality of the answers. The case study of the current research has been done using the schedule of the fleet of Line 4 of the Tehran Metro between "Kahdouz" and "Bemeh" stations. The results obtained from the simulations show that the model developed in the current research in terms of train passenger volume, waiting time at the platforms and the delay of the trains at the intersection stations to recover the table through the mixed integer approach and algorithm Neighborhood search can provide solutions with better efficiency and quality.
 
Keywords
Retrieving Timetables
Tehran Metro
Disruption Management
Intersection Stations
Passenger Capacity
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