Standard allowance

The STDCM module must be usable with standard allowances. The user can set an allowance value, expressed either as a function of the running time or the travelled distance. This time must be added to the running time, so that it arrives later compared to its fastest possible running time.

For example: the user can set a margin of 5 minutes per 100km. On a 42km long path that would take 10 minutes at best, the train should arrive 12 minutes and 6 seconds after leaving.

This can cause problems to detect conflicts, as an allowance would move the end of the train slot to a later time. The allowance must be considered when we compute conflicts as the graph is explored.

The allowance must also follow the MARECO model: the extra time isn’t added evenly over the whole path, it is computed in a way that requires knowing the whole path. This is done to optimize the energy used by the train.

Linear margin expressed as a function of time

As a first step, the problem is solved with a linear margin, i.e. added evenly over the whole path. The speed is simply modified by a constant factor.

The envelopes. computed during the graph traversal are not modified, they are always at maximum speed. But they are paired with a speed factor, which is used to compute running time and to evaluate conflicts.

The final envelope, with the allowance, is only computed once a path is found.

Linear margin expressed as a function of distance

The principle is generally the same, but with an extra difficulty: the speed factor isn’t constant over the path. When a train goes faster, it travels more distance in the same time, which increases the allowance time and the speed factor.

Because the train speed changes over the path, the speed factor changes from one edge to another. This causes irregular speed curves.

MARECO Allowances

This is exclusively a post-processing step, because it isn’t possible to compute the MARECO envelope without knowing the full train path. When looking for a path, linear allowances are used.

This means that conflicts may appear at this step. To avoid them, the following procedure is applied:

  1. A mareco allowance is applied over the whole path.
  2. If there are conflict, the first one is considered.
  3. The mareco allowance is split in two intervals. The point where the first conflict appeared is set to be at the same time as the envelope with a linear allowance, removing the conflict at this point.
  4. This process is repeated iteratively until no conflict is found.