Revised estimation of public railway infrastructure line capacity: Lithuanian case

Abstract

The problematic of determination of maximum capacity of Lithuanian Railway lines is considered is this article. Maximum capacity considered the largest number of trains that could run over a railway line, during the scheduled time interval. At the same time, the train traffic should be ensured in a strictly perfect, mathematically defined environment, with the trains running permanently and ideally at minimum headway, i.e., keeping time-based distance between two consecutive trains. Current applied calculation methods and the means of Lithuanian train traffic arranging are revised by estimating the railway traffic irregularity due the features of technical equipment: traction vehicles, signalling, automatic, track, catenary, etc. The maximum potential capacities of three problematic lines of Lithuanian Railways are estimated taking into account the type and power of freight locomotives. Considered railway lines are: “Livintai - Gaižiūnai”, “Plungė - Šateikiai” and “Pagėgiai - Tauragė - Viduklė”. Finally, basic conclusions and recommendations are given.