Transport Operations Research

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Transport Operations Research

• Professor John Preston

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SR2 Transport Operations

• Focus on issues surrounding rail operations,
  planning and management and the impact of
  engineering, technological and organisational
  change.
• Key staff
• Professor John Preston
• Dr John Armstrong
• Simon Blainey
• Dr Graham Wall

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SR2 Transport Operations Recent Research
RRUK Phase 1 Project B1 Decision Support System
for Dynamic Re-Scheduling of Trains Under
Disturbance RRUK Phase 1 Project C2 Delivery of
User Needs Included studies for Virgin on Fast
Ticket Machines and GNER on WiFi Services RRUK
Phase 1 Project C3 Future role of rail in
integrated transport strategies. HST Impact and
Connectivity Projects.
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SR2 Transport Operations Current Research

• RRUK Phase 2 Project B6 Human Automation
  Interactions in Rail
• Network Control
• RRUK Phase 2 Project C6 Determining the Costs of
  Delay to
• Different Train Types
• ATOC The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail
  Demand

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The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail Demand
(I)

• Background
• Funded by ATOC
• 2007 WP - 150 million earmarked to modernise 150
  stations
• Objectives
• To gain a greater understanding of the changes in
  rail demand in response to the improvements of
  railway station facilities, including an
  understanding of time lags/decays and modal
  shifting.
• To update and enhance sections B5 and C5 of PDFH
  4.1 to provide a complete and comprehensive
  methodology to assist future commercial decision
  making relating to station enhancements.

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The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail Demand
(II)
National Passenger Survey (NPS) Satisfaction
with Station Attributes at Station A
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The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail Demand
(III)
Categorical regression with NPS data wave 16
(Spring 07)

• Station attribute satisfaction most important
  for
• Large and Small stations
• Males rather than Females
• Business and Leisure rather than Commuting

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The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail Demand
(IV)

• Logistic regression for satisfaction scores at
  Station A and
• Station B.
• The best model explains 78 of variation and
  suggests
• Major enhancements at Category A stations
  increase station attribute satisfaction by about
  16 to 18 percentage points.
• Station attribute satisfaction levels at Station
  A 6 to 7 percentage points below Station B.
• Enhancements might be expected to increase
  overall satisfaction by around 2 percentage
  points (16 x 0.131 2.1).

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The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail Demand
(V)
LENNON ticket sales data for station A
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The Effect of Station Enhancements on Rail Demand
(VI)
POLS Regression Model Explains 98 of variation.
Upgrades have a measurable impact on demand (at
least for originating traffic) but only of a
fairly short duration (for origins 23 periods,
for destinations 9 periods).
PDFH 5-10 growth for origins DfT Max 2 growth
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SR2 Transport Operations PhDs/EngDs
ESRC CASE Studentship (with Oxera) Evaluating the
Long Term Impacts of Transport Policy The Case
of Rail Privatisation. EPSRC Studentship
Forecasting the Use of New Stations and Services
using GIS
Also The Relationships between On-Train and Car
Park Overcrowding Managing Risks to Avoid Cost
Overruns and Possibility of Shifting Containers
from Road to Intermodal Services in the UK
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SR2 Student Projects

• BEng/MEng Part III Individual Projects
• - Web based ticket prices
• - Redesigning the Railway for an Ageing
  Population
• - The Optimal Number and Location of ATMs
• - Operating Strategies for the SWML
• MEng Part IV Group Design Projects
• - The Southern Way Express Services between
  Brighton and Poole
• - A New Rail Service to Hamble
• MSc Dissertations
• - Impacts of rail improvements at Ashford and
  Hastings
• - An LRV Tracksharing system for Southampton
• - Evaluation of Chandlers Ford new station