Development of a train-scheduling expert system for AC railway electrification

An expert system consultant containing two blocks of symbolic computation is being developed to assist railway engineers in designing 50 Hz single-phase AC electrified railways and in scheduling the operation of trains. Despite the use of sophisticated simulation packages, it is not always possible to obtain a design or a schedule which is operationally acceptable without the input of an experienced railway engineer. The first block of the expert system is thus to combine the knowledge of a railway simulator and an experienced railway engineer and to provide a means of communication between these two parties. Its other goal is to provide a user-friendly environment to answer the most frequently asked questions by railway engineers concerning railway performances for both the normal and emergency operations. Normally, answering these questions requires running the railway simulation package. The railway engineer is guided to set up the input data, and to include operational constraints which are too difficult or inefficient to be included in railway simulation runs. The second block of the expert system is aimed to extend the approach of railway simulation developed by the author and to accommodate artificial control heuristics which are loosely defined among train drivers