Train rescheduling in the event of a full blockade

Large railway companies are confronted with unexpected disruptions on their network on a daily basis. When a disruption occurs a new timetable should be found, able to fulfill the need for transportation as effectively as possible. In this thesis, we will look into the case of a full blockade on a railway line on the Dutch railway network. Full blockades prevent trains to pass on a certain track in both directions. This leads to trains having to turn around at the stations on each side of the blockade. To keep the train schedule feasible some trains will have to be delayed or even cancelled. A model to find a solution for this scenario has been demonstrated in Louwerse and Huisman (2012). This solution, however, only presents the replacing schedule which should be operated continuously during the period of the disruption. I.e. it does not take into account that we should implement a so-called transition period, in which we shift from the original schedule to the new one. There is also a high probability that some trains are stuck before the blockade. These trains should be returned to a station that is on their route and then fitted into the new schedule. In this thesis, we use integer programming formulations to find a new schedule which will cover both the transition period and the period until the blockade is gone. We test the model on two real life situations of which data was provided by Netherlands Railways. The new schedules will be compared to the schedules that Netherlands Railways used when the problems occurred. It is important that our model allows for a quick solution, so that the new timetable can be communicated to the trains and the passengers in a timely fashion.