THE OPTIMAL TIMETABLE TO BOOST REGIONAL RAILWAY NETWORKS AND HOW THIS IS AFFECTED BY OPEN ACCESS OPERATIONS

In railway timetabling and railway network design the question for the optimal timetable is a fundamental design decision. Whether a country benefits more from high-speed services or integrated network services strongly depends on its settlement structure. Lille’s law of travelling is applied giving an indication which solution is more suitable for different European countries. In most railway networks an integrated network-oriented timetable like the integrated periodic would maximize the customer’s benefit. Furthermore, it allows for long-term infrastructure design and timetable planning. For a network approach suburban and regional railway lines are of significant importance. Three case studies of regional railway networks in the Austrian province of Styria depict how the application of a periodic timetable increased patronage. In addition, feasibility studies are presented showing the further potential of introducing an integrated periodic timetable. However, integrated periodic timetables considerably may be affected by open access services as use-cases in Austria and the Czech Republic show. While open access operation usually improves the situation on long-distance relations, regional railway services might be negatively affected. These effects and a possible procedure for solving this issue are presented.