A New Methodology for Optimising Railway Line Capacity: Improving Infrastructure for Sustainable Transport

Sufficient capacity of railway lines is a key prerequisite for stable and sustainable transport, not only on main or high-speed lines but also on lines of regional importance that complement the network. Their indispensable role is manifested not only daily but especially in the event of incidents on the backbone network. One of the main characteristics of these support lines is that they are largely single-track. Another important characteristic is that they alternate between sections with different traffic loads, which significantly changes the capacity requirements along the whole line. In this paper, the authors focus on developing a new, widely applicable method that identifies, based on objective criteria, the sections for which it is appropriate to proceed with a partial infrastructure measure. It also defines a mathematical apparatus that can be used to determine the new infrastructure parameters required. Each measure must be dimensioned to meet future requirements for rail traffic volume. The article thus provides a new perspective on the dimensioning of appropriate measures for increasing the capacity of the railway in general.