There are many possibilities for the improvement of punctuality.

For example, after the

disastrous fall of 2002, when 7% of all trains had to be canceled, a 17 million euro project was
initiated to improve the punctuality. However, well-founded cost-benefit analyses are scarce,
despite the enormous investments that are involved in some projects aimed at improving the
punctuality. Decisions should be based on a quantitatively supported trade-off between the
investments and the improvements in punctuality, other services and travel-characteristics.
Furthermore, our research has led to a better understanding of timetabling norms. Applying
these insights will lead to more robust timetables, or give the current norms a scientific
foundation. 1.5 Outline of the Thesis Chapter 2 introduces the railway planning process to the
reader, and more specifically the Dutch situation. It then also describes disturbances and delay
propagation, and how planning can help to improve reliability. Furthermore, performance
measures and perception are discussed. Finally a literature review is given. In Chapter 3, existing
timetabling models and timetable evaluation models are discussed. The first part focuses on
timetabling models. More specifically, the timetabling tool DONS is discussed. Later, two types
of timetable evaluation models are discussed. First, the focus is on models based on max-plus
algebra. After that, simulation is addressed as a way to evaluate timetables. In particular, the
simulation tool SIMONE is discussed. In the following chapters several timetabling
characteristics are investigated. Chapter 4 focuses on the distribution of running time
supplements. This problem is researched by an analytical model, a numerical approach and
simulation. All these methods show that the proportional supplement allocation used in practice
is not optimal with regard to average arrival delays. This is followed in Chapter 5 by a closer look
at the influences of heterogeneity of railway traffic on the reliability. First, new heterogeneity
measures are developed. Then both a theoretical and a practical simulation case are worked
out. These cases both analyze the influence of the heterogeneity on reliability, and the
appropriateness of the new heterogeneity measures. In Chapter 6, an innovative stochastic
optimization model is introduced. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first optimization
model that takes the delay propagation explicitly into account. The model is able to decrease
the average delay of existing timetables considerably within the model settings. The model can
be used in different settings, of which the standard version can handle a large subnetwork. 18
Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 7 is the concluding chapter. First the results from the earlier
chapters are discussed. Then we relate these results to the research questions, that are
described in Section 1.3. Finally, some recommendations for further research are given.