Simulation of Railway Networks - · PDF file3 OpenTrack Simulation of Railway Networks Simulation During a simulation, trains try to obey the given timetable. The differential equations

OpenTrack Simulation of Railway Networks

Simulation of Railway Networks

OpenTrack began a few years ago as a research project at the Swiss Federal Institute of Tech-nology. The aim of the project, Object-Oriented Modeling in Railways, was to develop a user-friendly tool to answer questions about railway operations by simulation.

Figure 1 shows how the simulation tool works. Predefined trains run on a railway networkaccording to the timetable. During the simulation, OpenTrack calculates train movementsunder the constraints of the timetable and the signaling system. After a simulation run, Open-Track can analyze and display the resulting data in the form of diagrams, train graphs, occupa-tion diagrams and statistics.

Figure 1: The modules of the simulation

Rolling stock

Infrastructure

Timetable

Input Simulation Output

Diagrams

Train graphs

Occupations

Statistics

Interactivity /Disturbances

Animation

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Rolling stock data

OpenTrack stores each locomotive’s technical characteristics, including tractive effort/speeddiagrams, load, length, and adhesion factor. A database organizes locomotives into groups cal-led depots. A simulated train consists of one or more locomotives from a depot together with anumber of passenger or freight cars (carriages or wagons). Another database can store thesimulated train.

Network data

OpenTrack describes a railway network in special graphs called double vertex graphs. A usercan edit the network’s topology graphically. Every element of the graph holds various attribu-tes. An edge, for example, holds a track section’s length, gradient, maximum speed for diffe-rent train categories and much more. A user can create and manage objects for edges andvertices, and also signals, switches, stations and routes. Figure 2 shows an example for a sta-tion.

Figure 2: Layout of a station

Timetable data

The timetable database stores information for each train at each station, including arrival anddeparture times, minimal stop time, and connections to other trains.

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Simulation

During a simulation, trains try to obey the given timetable. The differential equations for speedand distance are the basis for calculating a train’s movement. The signaling system of therailway network poses constraints. Occupied tracks and restrictive signal aspects may impedea train’s progress.

During the simulation, every train continuously stores its speed, acceleration, position, powerconsumption and other data. This data can be evaluated after the simulation as shown in Figu-res 3 to 7.

The user can watch the simulation in an animation mode, which shows the trains running andlets the user analyze occupied tracks, reserved tracks and signal aspects.

Figure 3: Train graph (train diagram)

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Output data

After a simulation, OpenTrack offers output data in a number of forms. Evaluations of a train,line or station are possible. For a train, OpenTrack offers diagrams such as acceleration vs.distance, speed vs. distance (Figure 4), and obstructions. For a line, there are evaluations in theform of diagrams of train movements (Figure 3), track occupation (Figure 5) and line profiles.Every station produces output about all the trains that used it, including arrival, stopping anddeparture times.

The user can view output data in either a diagram or an Excel table, or export it as a readableASCII table.

Figure 4: Speed/distance diagram

Figure 5: Occupation of selected platform tracks

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Figure 6: Delay statistics

Figure 7: All outputs can be viewed in Excel

The OpenTrack application

The OpenTrack application is avaliable for the following operating systems:

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The application is available in two versions. The full version of OpenTrack offers an unlimitednumber of running trains per simulation. The limit of the OpenTrack Light version is twotrains per simulation.

Figure 8 shows an example of the application during a simulation run. OpenTrack animatesthe running trains on the screen.

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Figure 8: Screenshot (OpenTrack for Windows XP)

For more information

For more information, please contact:

OpenTrack Railway Technology Ltd.Gubelstr. 28CH - 8050 ZurichSwitzerland

Phone: + 41 -44- 310 19 90Fax: + 41 -86- 044 310 19 90E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.opentrack.ch

Documents

Simulation of Railway Networks - · PDF file3 OpenTrack Simulation of Railway Networks Simulation During a simulation, trains try to obey the given timetable. The differential equations