Tram and Light Rail traffic
Tram, light rail, people mover, capacity of traffic light controlled street junctions, priority for tram and light rail
Trams and light rail trains often share the street room with the individual motor car traffic. If separated railway constructions exist the interactions are restricted to the intersections. At intersections waiting times for trams and light rail trains causing delays may mainly occur in front of traffic lights. By priority technology for local traffic such waiting times can widely be avoided.
In RailSys influences for trams and light rail trains caused by individual motor car traffic and traffic lights can be considered, the effects can be investigated. Hindrances by individual motor car traffic because of common usage of the street (no separated railway construction) are modelled by stochastically generated perturbations. At traffic lights with fixed programs recurring closure times have to be considered which are defined directly inside the database. A priority technology is modelled by speed restrictions or general stops in front of intersections (unless the priority technology can avoid these effects completely).
If the light rail trains are led through tunnels these have normally to be equipped with a signalling system. Using RailSys the minimum of necessary signals and the correct locations can be determined.
The concept which let light rail trains use the lines of heavy railway systems (Karlruher Modell) can save additional infrastructure and can help to take more economic advantage of the existing infrastructure. With RailSys the agreeableness of light rail on the infrastructure of heavy railway can be investigated in detail. Questions about sufficient capacity of the infrastructure for mixed traffic heavy rail/light rail or the design of connection points light railway/heavy railway (usage of crossings or necessity of bridges) have to be solved.
Furthermore boundary conditions like the influence of gauge for the light rail system to the cost development have to be contemplated: If the gauge of the light rail is different to the gauge of the heavy rail a third rail must be implemented on the heavy railways to make the usable for the light rail trains.
Additionally with RailSys operational concepts can developed and optimised like turnarounds, train splitting and amalgamation and as well as shortening and lengthening of trains.
