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Reliability and Delay in LRT Operations

Conference Paper · December 2008

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Namali Sirisoma S.C. Wirasinghe

General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University The University of Calgary
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 R.M.N.T. Sirisomaa
Doug Morgan b
S.C. Wirasinghe a

a Dept. of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary

b Calgary Transit, Calgary, Canada
 Introduction

 Study Area

 Availability of Data

 Data Analysis

 Recommendations and Conclusion

 The reliability of a LRT system is defined as the
probability of operating of trains according to the
schedule.
 Due to operational difficulties the actual departure
time can be more than few minutes of the actual
schedule time (Maximum of 5 minutes). But if the
train arrives it has to wait till the scheduled departure
time.
 Calgary Transit considers the delays less than 3
minutes as a punctual train
 Reliability can be measured using some of those
parameters such as
◦ Probability of delay departures
◦ Probability of early departures
◦ Actual and scheduled average travel time between links
◦ Expected arrival time and actual arrival time etc.
◦ Mean and standard deviation of delays
In LRT system in Calgary has many operational issues
such as

Technical issues
 Train breakdowns
 Faulty signals
 Malfunctioning of automatic doors of trains
Operational issues
 Running in bad weather
 Accidents
 At- grade railway crossings
 Boarding and alighting times
 Passenger emergencies
 Passengers holding doors
 Construction disruptions (single tracking, reverse
running, slow orders)
Planning related issues
 Schedule development
 Dwell/travel time estimation
 The LRT system consists of three NW, NE and SE
lines connecting downtown. In this study the NE
line was considered for the analysis. Northeast
Railway line consists of

◦ Eight railway stations outside the downtown

◦ Ten staggered stations for both in bound and out
bound directions in downtown section
◦ End terminal at downtown at 10th street southwest
◦ Total length of line 14.6 km
◦ Double track (with few trailing cross-overs)
◦ Share the 7th Avenue by both buses and LRT,
emergency vehicles and pedestrians.
◦ 16 at-grade crossings controlled by fixed time traffic
signals and accessible to cars and pedestrians with two
inter locking at both ends of 7th Avenue
Source : Calgary Transit
7th Avenue in Downtown with at grade- rail crossings

Source : Calgary Transit

 Schedule for LRT for Northeast line

 Passenger Counts done for commuter survey

in 2007

 Departure time for all trains in each station

for the whole day for both directions for
month of July 2008

 Distances between LRT stations

 Comparison of delay of trains for in bound - weekdays
60.00

50.00

40.00
Percentage

30.00 McKnight

3rd ST SE

7th ST SW
20.00

10.00

0.00
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 More
Delay Min
 Headway Ratio for Stations for in Bound - Weekdays
50.00
Actual HW
45.00
Headway Ratio 
Scheduled HW
40.00

35.00

30.00
0.50
Percentage

25.00 0.75

1.00
20.00
1.25

15.00 1.5

10.00

5.00

0.00
McKnight 3rd ST SE 7th ST SW
Station
Delay Distribution of trains at time points
for outbound (towards McKnight)
Delay Distribution of trains for Out Bound - Weekdays
50.00

45.00

40.00

35.00

30.00
Percentage

25.00 10th ST SW

City Hall
20.00
Whitehorn

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 More
Delay Min
Headway Ratio for Outbound
Headway Ratio for Trains for Out Bound - Weekdays
45.00

40.00

35.00

30.00

25.00 0.50
Percentage

0.75
20.00 1.0

1.25
15.00
1.5

10.00

5.00

0.00
10th ST SW City Hall Whitehorn
Station
 Difference between actual headway and scheduled headway
along the NE line for AM peak (6.00 to 9.00) - out bound
120

100

80
-2
percentage

-1
60
0

1
40 2

3
20 more

0
10th ST SW to City Hall to Bridgeland to Barlow to Franklin to Marlborough Rundle to
City Hall Bridgeland Barlow Franklin Marlborough to Rundle Whitehorn
delay min
 Difference between actual headway and scheduled headway
along the NE line for off peak (9.00 to 15.00) - out bound

120

100

80
-2
Percentage

-1
60
0

40 2

more
20

0
10th ST SW to City Hall to Bridgeland to Barlow to Franklin to Marlborough Rundle to
City Hall Bridgeland Barlow Franklin Marlborough to Rundle Whitehorn
Delay Min
 Difference between actual headway and scheduled headway
along the NE line for PM peak (15.00 to 18.00) - out bound
120

100

80

-2
Percentage

-1
60
0

2
40
3

more

20

0
10th ST SW to City Hall to Bridgeland to Barlow to Franklin to Marlborough Rundle to
City Hall Bridgeland Barlow Franklin Marlborough to Rundle Whitehorn
Delay Min
 Comparison of Travel times for Downtown Section - Out bound
11:31

10:05

08:38

07:12
Time Min : Sec

05:46
Actual Avg TT

Scheduled Avg TT
04:19

02:53

01:26

00:00
0.00 - 6.00 6.00 - 9.00 9.00 - 15.00 15.00 - 18.00 18.00 - 24.00
Time interval Hrs
 Total Boarding and Alighting Variation in LRT Stations in NE
Line

10000

9000

8000

7000

6000
Boarding
5000
Alighting
4000

3000

2000

1000

0
Bridgeland Zoo Barlow Franklin Marlborough Rundle Whitehorn
 Hourly Variation of Passengers Boarding in the NE LRT Line
6000

5000

4000
Whitehorn
Passengers per Day

Rundle

3000 Marlborough

Franklin

Barlow
2000
Zoo

Bridgeland
1000

0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1
Time Hrs
 Hourly Variation of Passenger Alighting in LRT
6000

5000

4000
Whitehorn

Rundle
Passenger per hr

Marlborough
3000
Franklin

Barlow

Zoo
2000
Bridgeland

1000

0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 0 1
 Reliability of LRT for the inbound direction is
satisfactory compared to the outbound direction
 Too many early departures have occurred due to
poor scheduling in downtown section
◦ Schedule has been created assuming minimal delays in
traffic, efficient boarding and alighting, no doors held.
◦ The fixed time traffic signals provide a ‘granularity’ to
the schedule in increments of 90 seconds (if the window
is missed the delays occur in increments of 90 seconds)
◦ When the headways are 2-5 minutes and a delay in one
train will accumulate delay in other trains in both
directions
 Non availability of passenger count
information will be a constraint in optimizing
the schedule for LRT

 Demand oriented schedule should be

designed for both directions of LRT

 Schedule should be designed in at least half

minute (30 seconds) intervals since all signal
lights are designed in seconds for green red
and amber
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