You are the Operations and Train Planning Director of a Train Operating company.
You have the task of identifying what resources are needed to operate a service in the following circumstances. There is a simple route from station A to station J with intermediate stations at B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I. The station dwell time is 2 minutes and the travel time between each of the stations is 5 minutes. You must allow 5 minutes for trains to turn back at each of the terminal stations. The layout of points at the terminal stations is such that there will be no conflicts when trains are running on time. The maximum forecast demand on this route is to move 16,500 people per hour between D and E in the morning peak. Trains are made up of 8 cars and can carry a maximum of 1000 people, including those standing. For planning purposes, you must assume that the best loading you will be able to achieve is 85% of maximum capacity.
Given the train service that you are scheduling, describe the further issues you would have to consider to decide the total number of trains that you need to hire to operate the service and, using reasonable assumptions, which you should include in your answer, calculate how many trains you would need to hire.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Solution Being the Operations and Train Planning Director the following systems issues are required to be addressed if a reduction in dwell time is pr... View the full answer