OUTLINING THE TIMETABLE OF A RAILWAY SYSTEM ACCORDING TO ITS CAPACITY COMPUTATION

This paper deals with the outlining of a timetable for a railway line in order to maximize its potential capacity. The application studied is the line Bern-Thun of the Swiss Federal Railways, characterized by heavy heterogeneous traffic. Long and complex computer-aided calculations on the capacity of stretches and stations on the line indicate that there are further utilization margins; hence, the need to reset the timetable to maximize the utilization of the line capacity. This implied the complete repositioning of trains on station tracks and a relevant change in managing the railway station plan of the city of Bern. Results thus obtained can be generalized: an 'optimal' timetable--that can combine the maximum transport capacity and the user's demands--exists for any railway line.