Simulation for influence of train failure on railway traffic flow and research on train operation adjusting strategies using cellular automata

Many complex train operation plans are being implemented in practice because more and more railway transit networks have been constructed and put into use, and thus a certain train’s failure will cause more harmful influence on the efficiency and safety of the overall railway transit system. In this paper, a new cellular automaton model is proposed. In this model, two control schemes are introduced to simulate the characteristic behaviors of railway traffic flow when a train breaks down for traction failure, stops, and later be rescued by its first following train. The simulation results prove that the proposed model is able to simulate the occurrence of train failure and reproduce the complex behaviors of train movement in railway transit system. Two train operation adjusting strategies are proposed and tested later with this model. Simulation results show that increments in train operation interval after the train failure bring more benefits than decrements in maximum velocity and that with proper parameters both strategies can serve to reduce the severity of delay and go-and-stop waves to a lower level.