The performance of many railway networks and the quality of service offered is becoming more
and more critical. The main issues to be addressed are the increasing traffic volumes and
making the best use of the available capacity at the same time resolving train scheduling and
management problems. This is an updated revised and extended edition of 'Railway Timetable &
Traffic' published in 2008. It describes the state-of-the-art methods of railway timetabling
and optimisation capacity estimation train operations analysis and modelling simulation
rescheduling and performance assessment. The intention is to stimulate their broader
application in practice and to highlight current and future research areas. It is directed at
academics Masters and PhD students as well as professionals from the railway industry. It
will also be of interest to the public authorities that tender monitor and perhaps fund
railway service provision. The overall aim is to improve the attractiveness and efficiency of
the train services which can be offered to the public. The key to achieving a higher efficiency
and quality of train operations is an awareness of the impact of availability reliability and
robustness of the subsystems on train processes. A deeper insight into the probability of
incidents and the propagation of train delays depends on a thorough analysis of real world
railway operations and the feedback obtainable. This leads to an optimisation of the timetable
and a network-wide improvement in traffic management performance. This know-how should increase
the efficiency of the railway system making it more attractive for regular occasional and new
customers and ensure that the railways continue to innovate. They will then be able to make
the maximum contribution possible to the transport needs of the future.
