Investigating the capacity of a Metro line by means of a simulation model

Abstract

The expansion of the urban railway in the city of Athens with two new Metro lines required the upgrading of the existing infrastructure in order to comply with the new modern lines in terms of capacity and quality of service. This paper presents a simulation-based modelling tool that was developed and used for the purposes of the relevant capacity analysis. The model offers a graphical and interactive environment that facilitates the calculations, provides the necessary information and allows for sensitivity analysis under user-defined scenarios that enable the investigation of the behaviour of the system when longer than anticipated delays or abnormal situations occur. It also allows for the investigation of the synchronization of the trains that enter the system after the turn back procedures in the intermediate stations.