Open Master Thesis Projects

Click here to access the completed master thesis projects.

Optimising the roll-out strategy of Automatic Train Operation

Increasing demand for heavily used rail corridors in line with the modernisation of train operation technology is an essential driver for replacing manual driving with Automatic Train Operation (ATO). Several Grades of Automation can be applied from semi-automatic to autonomous train operation. To maximise the service and benefits and minimise the associated cost of shifting towards ATO...

Driver Advisory Systems for merging freight trains

In the Netherlands, RouteLint has been implemented since 2017 as an in-cab technology Driver
Information System to provide real-time traffic information on the upcoming route and the planned time of arrival at the timetable points ahead (such as stops or junctions). Merging freight trains into a flow of passenger trains is a typical scenario where RouteLint is applied. In practice, not every driver has chosen to use this device, and different drivers have their own driving styles. Therefore...

Flexible event times in Periodic Event Scheduling Problem

Scheduling trains in periodic timetables is increasingly demanding because of the ever-growing passenger demands on the one hand and the capacity restrictions and the timetable robustness on the other hand. On a macroscopic level, each departure or arrival of a train at a station which takes place at a certain time is called an event. Instead of exact event times, additional flexibility for these events can be introduced to create more chances for finding a feasible train routing on the microscopic level. However...

The impact of Robust Train Path Envelopes on Line Capacity

The Dutch railway network is one of the most dense networks in the world. The constant growth of railway transport demand on one hand, and the limited existing infrastructure capacity on the other forces the railways to constantly enhance their processes to improve performance in managing existing and planned resources. Mathematical models significantly contribute to better and more efficient planning of services and operations. Robust Train Path Envelopes are sets of locations on the route with specified windows for...

Robust Driver Advisory Systems and Automatic Train Operation

The railways automation race started long ago, although more research is required to reach the finish line. Automation shows many potential benefits, as it may contribute to improve the service in a sustainable way, to optimize the network capacity and to reduce costs in the long term. However, automation technologies are usually difficult to be implemented, as the algorithms embedded need to be carefully calibrated to achieve the target levels of accuracy and performance. To this end...

MSc Thesis: How should trains drive themselves?

Automatic Train Operation (ATO) shows many potential benefits, as it may contribute to improve the service in a sustainable way, to optimize the network capacity and to reduce costs in the long term. Train control is usually considered as a two-step approach. First, a reference speed profile is calculated by means of a trajectory generator. Second, a trajectory tracking algorithm monitors continuously the train speed and location to calculate the exact amount of tractive and brake effort to be applied in order to follow the reference speed profile...

MSc Thesis: Pseudospectral train motion parameter estimation

Train Trajectory Optimizers are algorithms that constitute a key element of energy-efficient railway applications like Driver advisory systems, Automatic Train Operation and Energy-Efficient Timetabling. However, these algorithms have to be calibrated in order to be able to reproduce and predict the train motion dynamics accurately. Consequently, train motion calibration algorithms are essential for guaranteeing a good performance of such applications...

MSc Thesis: Dimensioning radio networks as a requirement for railway traffic

Not only the migration towards the radio-based signalling standard ETCS (European Train Control System) causes a high demand on radio communication, but also multiple (future) applications such as (real-time) operations optimisation and passenger information systems lead to a significantly higher radio data transmission. Depending on the performance and the reach of a radio cell, the dimensioning of radio networks has direct impact on the maximum capacity (i.e., number of trains)...

MSc Thesis: Reliability of railway operations during and after ERTMS migration

The railways in the Netherlands face the challenge to migrate towards the radio-based signalling standard ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) that will increase safety, capacity and interoperability of international railway traffic. The migration towards ERTMS will have a big impact on operational processes and procedures for users such as train drivers and dispatchers...

MSc Thesis: Designing optimal buffer times in railway timetables at NS

When creating new timetables, NS uses an accurate running time calculation and microscopic section occupation for headway times. On top of the technical minimal headway times, we apply a buffer time of 60 seconds on every headway time. This buffer time is used to accommodate variation in both driving behaviour and small deviations in process times. The same value for every headway is used because we have no better information on how to differentiate this value...

MSc Thesis: Mathematical modelling for improving passengers safety during COVID-19 in railway and public transport

The spread of viruses such as COVID-19 brought new challenges to our society, including a stronger focus on safety in rail and public transport. Due to pandemic, crowding at vehicles has become considered as unsafe, as close contacts among passengers tend to significantly increase probability for spreading infections between them. Therefore, many national and local authorities advise against travelling unless it is considered to be certain essential trips...

MSc Thesis: AI applications in railways

Within the recently obtained project Roadmaps for A.I. Integration in the Rail Sector (RAILS, rails-project.eu), we are going to investigate the potential of Artificial Intelligence approaches in the rail railways and contribute to the definition of roadmaps for future research in signalling systems, operational intelligence, and network management. Therefore, we can offer a significant number of great research opportunities...

MSc Thesis: Resilience in railway transport systems

Today urban mobility becomes more fragile to unexpected events in the networks. In the Netherlands, on average, about 14 of such disruptions occur every day. Such disruptive events may range from failures of infrastructure and vehicles, engineering works, adverse weather (rain, snow storm, wind, earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes) to random and tailored attacks. Many of them create problems spreading all over the network causing many cancelled and heavily delayed trains leading to great dissatisfaction of passengers...

MSc Thesis: Satisfying future transport demand in railway timetabling

A significant increase in the demand of passenger and freight transport is expected to saturate railway networks in the near future. In the Netherlands, passenger demand is expected to grow 40% until 2030. In this context, infrastructure managers strive to find operational and/or infrastructural solutions to allow higher traffic volumes on the network to satisfy the forecasted transport demand. Existing network capacity may not always be sufficient and infrastructure upgrades are often necessary to accommodate a denser train service plan...

MSc Thesis: Solving large-scale periodic timetabling problems

Timetabling is one of the most crucial planning problems. The constant growth of railway transport demand on one hand, and the limited existing infrastructure capacity on the other forces the railways to constantly enhance their processes to improve performance in managing existing and planned resources. Mathematical models significantly contribute to better and more efficient planning of services and operations. In the Netherlands, the planning tool DONS has been developed and used for designing timetables since 2007...

MSc Thesis: Planning infrastructure maintenance possessions in railway networks

A growing transport demand increases the need for the infrastructure maintenance which induces a range of additional planning challenges. Conducting infrastructure maintenance requires multiple possessions (closures during a given period) of open tracks, station tracks, complete stations as well as individual switches. The reduced available capacity often makes the original timetable impossible to operate...

MSc Thesis: Improving railway services during infrastructure maintenance possessions

In order to provide high quality railway services, railway infrastructure needs regular and frequent maintenance. As a result, in the Netherlands, every weekend, multiple train lines are having reduced number of services, get cancelled, rerouted or shortened which all cause uncertainty and discomfort to passengers and freight operators. If you think that railway companies could do better in scheduling possessions and/or adjusting railway services, then there is a project waiting for you...

MSc Thesis: Automated contingency planning for infrastructure disruptions

This project has the objective of further developing models and tools to automatically design contingency plans. In particular, the project will generate contingency plans by adapting basic timetables for a given set of disruptions. The contingency plans provide feasible and robust timetables that minimize the inconvenience to passenger and freight operators...

MSc Thesis: Developing multimodal line network designs for beyond 2030

In this project you will be able to develop models and algorithms for providing multimodal public transport services. Potentially, an interaction between the conventional modes and new hybrid transport modes such as shared, autonomous, and on-demand services like Lyft, Uber, ViaVan, can be addressed. This research will bring more coordinated services and seamless connections that leads to more synchronized traffic which uses infrastructure optimally and improves the quality of service to passengers...

MSc Thesis: Data-driven approach for quantifying resilience in railway networks

In the Netherlands, internal factors causing failures (e.g. infrastructure, vehicle) take up to 70% of all disruptions in the network. On average, about 14 of such disruptions occur every day. Some of these disruptions remain even unnoticed by passengers, e.g. a switch failure in Vlissingen. However, others generate problems spreading all over the network causing many cancelled and heavily delayed trains leading to great dissatisfaction of passengers...

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