COMPAT: a decision support tool for determining the necessity of rail infrastructure

摘要

The functionality of a railway yard is for the largest part determined by the existing simultaneities. Simultaneities allow the simultaneous arrival, departure or drive through of trains. At medium or large sized yards the process of manually determining all simultaneities is very time-consuming and error-prone, which limits the type and number of questions to be answered within a reasonable time, such as the question as to whether all existing infrastructure is really needed given the requirement specifications for compatible routes. COMPAT is a new tool developed by Holland Railconsult, which uses a mathematical algorithm to determine all simultaneities on a railway yard. The results can be visualised graphically. The tool enables the user to quickly determine which points or links are and are not necessary to meet the functional requirements and to determine the added functionality when a certain point or link is added. This means current railway yards or new designs for railway yards can be tested by COMPAT for redundant infrastructure. Therefore, COMPAT provides the railway infrastructure manager with a powerful tool to determine a cost effective layout of a railway yard. By presenting the results graphically, COMPAT contributes to the user's insight into the effects of adding or removing points and links in railway yards, thus reducing discussions among specialists.