Improving railway performance in Norway

• We report on small delays at railway stations.
• Six types of delay are examined.
• Only one of these delays is normally included in simulations, and is included here for comparison with other work.
• Data is set out which is new for operators and researchers alike.
• This will enable the incorporation of the understanding of these delays into the railway timetabling function.

As in many countries, railway performance in Norway is not as high as management would wish. This paper describes ‘forensic’ work undertaken to understand the reasons for, and durations of, delays at stations in the Oslo area. These delays are often small in nature, and poorly-recorded, so are not well-understood. Detailed analysis of over 1000 departures identified many reasons for delay, of which data on six (train stopping position, despatch delay, staff position relative to the critical door, excess customer service, passenger door forcing, and knock-on delays) are presented here. It is hoped that this data may be of use to those developing rail simulations or more widely trying to understand railway performance in more detail. Actions being taken in Norway designed to address these issues are expected to improve punctuality by about 3%.