Efficiency Improvements in Railway Operations: A Focus on Punctuality

Abstract

The transportation sector plays a pivotal role in the economic development of a country, with railway systems forming the backbone of sustainable mass transit. Punctuality within these systems is crucial for maintaining reliability and maximizing operational efficiency,  impacting economic output and public satisfaction. In this research we focus on a railway transportation system as a complex Socio-technical system (STS), as there are high levels of interactions among system components. We evaluate the efficiency of train operations across train paths in the railway network by integrating different perspectives (e.g., provider, user, etc.). By utilizing a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, this study aims to comprehensively analyze train path efficiencies. Studies in the literature focus on methods to optimize system performance that typically require major infrastructure re-designs along with long time horizons and a high cost to implement. However, we focus on timetables and train schedules without requiring the alteration of the existing infrastructure. This approach has the potential to  impact railway operations while requiring minimal resource expenditures at the company level. Our research studies the required modifications to the train timetable that impact the prioritization of train paths or itineraries to meet emerging needs. The Belgian railway system is considered a case study for this work. Thanks to a rich dataset, we consider train paths or itineraries as decision-making units. This allows us to evaluate the technical performance of the service in terms of delays, based on the resources used for each train path and provides recommendations for performance improvements.