Assessment of transportation capacity balance of railway network polygons

Introduction. Traffic and transportation capacities of railway polygons and traffic flows are not constant throughout the year. Permissible capacity levels are determined by the condition of unhindered reception of trains by stations. It is necessary to calculate the balance of transportation capacity, making it possible to combine growing traffic with high rates with infrastructure development and repair works. The purpose of the study is to develop methodological solutions for assessing the balance of the railway transportation capacity and substantiating the procedure for implementing infrastructure measures in the context of the growing dynamics of the originating traffic and the tight deadlines for repairing and reconstructing the infrastructure.Materials and methods. The developed solutions are based on the data of the Russian Railways information systems, automated forecasting of the infrastructure and transportation resources of the railway network, and hybrid mathematical models.Results. The article presented the results of the substantiation of the normative restrictions on the daily time budget for the passage of trains, depending on the classification and specialisation of railway lines. The procedure for calculating the traffic capacity of sections with automatic locomotive signalling is determined as an independent means of interval control of train traffic with movable boundaries of block sections that change depending on the speed and mass of the train. The characteristics of the available, estimated, planned and required traffic and transportation capacities were determined with a distinction between measures for the development of traffic and transportation capacities and programs for improvement of infrastructure facilities. The authors put forward the problem of compromise management to ensure the required volumes of freight and passenger traffic, a given volume of reconstruction work on the development of infrastructure and repair work to maintain the required degree of its readiness. A classification of reconstructive, technological, organisational, technical and complex measures of influence on the unevenness of transport processes in the conditions of depletion of infrastructure and scheduling resources was presented.Discussion and conclusion. The developed solutions enable to increase the feasibility and efficiency of complex projects for the development of traffic and transportation capacities and measures to improve the operation of railway network polygons.