An integrated approach for optimal rail transit corridor identification and scheduling using geographical information system

In this work an integrated approach has been proposed to identify and schedule a rail transit corridor in a city which has a potential demand for a new rail based mass transit system besides the street transit system and existing rail-based system (if any). The motivation for the present study comes from the present Indian context where, because of recent initiatives of Central Urban Development Ministry, many Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and transit agencies need to master plan new rail based systems in an optimum way and at the same time attempting to integrate them with other existing public transport (PT) modes. While aligning the new rail transit system, the primary focus of the integrated approach is to optimize the origin–destination (O–D) travel time of the user and at the same time attempting to minimize the operators’ cost. The proposed rail corridor identification model consists of three stages: public transport demand forecasting, creation of corridor link set, and optimization of rail corridor using Geographical Information System (GIS). The objective function for train scheduling model is fixed as minimization of sum of operating cost of trains (operator cost) and total waiting time cost of passengers boarding the train (user costs) subject to load factor and waiting time constraints. The dwell time of train at stations, which is usually considered constant, has been taken as a variable which depends on the actual number of passengers boarding and alighting the train. The model is applied on Thane municipal corporation (TMC) area, a major urban center of the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR), India. The maximum peak hour ridership obtained on the identified corridor was found to be ideal for recommending light-rail transit system (LRT). The successful application of the model shows the capability of proposed model for a typical Indian city, which has potential demand for a new rail system.