A scheduled railway system that operates according to a cyclic timetable naturally exhibits a cyclic (periodic) behaviour. In a max-plus algebra setting such a system can be modelled as a linear (discrete event) dynamic system. The computation of a timetable then reduces to solving an eigenvalue problem for which effcient algorithms have been developed. Moreover, the max-plus algebra system theory contains stability analysis and simulation facilities. This paper shows that the max-plus algebra approach offers an efficient interactive timetable design framework which directs attention to the critical components in the railway system.
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