An Optimization Method of Urban Rail Train Operation Scheme Based on the Control of Load Factor

The train operation scheme of urban rail transit is a transportation plan formulated to fully meet the needs of passenger travel under the constraints of signal system capacity, turn-back capacity, and so on. Facing an unexpected epidemic, it was particularly important for passengers to travel safely and in an orderly manner. With an ever-increasing passenger flow due to work resumption, this paper proposes an optimization method for the urban rail train operation scheme based on the control of the target load factor according to the preparation process of the train operation scheme. The proposed method obtained the optimal train running interval and routing scheme based on analyzing the spatiotemporal distribution of passenger flow. The north section of Beijing Subway Line 8 was taken as an example. After optimization, for trains in the morning peak hour in the downward direction, the maximum load factor for the collinear section of the full-length routing and short-turn routing was reduced by 21%, and the matching effect of the transportation capacity and volume in the non-collinear was improved. In general, the maximum load factor in the downward direction after optimization was 80%, which met the target control requirements. The results show that the optimization method plays an important role in balancing the load factor in each cross-section and realizing the optimal coupling of passenger flow and train flow.