ANALYSIS OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND TRAFFIC

FLOW BY MEANS OF TRACK OCCUPATION DATA

T. Albrecht*, C. Gassel*, J. Knijff , J. van Luipen
*Dresden University of Technology, Friedrich List Faculty of Transportation and Traffic Sciences, Dresden, Germany.
{Thomas.K.Albrecht | Christian.Gassel}@tu-dresden.de

ProRail, Railway Development, The Netherlands. {Jelle.vanLuipen | Joke.Knijff}@prorail.nl

Keywords: Railway traffic analysis, energy consumption,

driving behaviour.

Abstract
The paper presents a new approach to railway traffic analysis.
Track occupation data is used to reconstruct the speed profile
of the train and in a second step its energy consumption.
The speed reconstruction algorithm is based on non-linear
least squares optimisation and a simplified model of train
motion. The engineering effort to make this method broadly
applicable is presented as well as the train model which is
used to derive energy consumption. The application of the
algorithm is shown by means of a case study for a 180 km
long Intercity line, where the results have been verified using
GPS data and energy measurements.

1 Introduction
Due to increasing passenger and freight traffic demand,
capacity bottlenecks became obvious in the European railway
network over the last few years. Building new infrastructure
to dissolve these bottlenecks is costly and can only be
regarded as long term solution. One short term action that can
be undertaken is the application of network-related driver
advice and information systems which help the driver to
avoid unplanned stops [1, 4].
The Dutch railway network is one of the most heavily
charged in the world. The infrastructure manager ProRail
developed a driver information system called RouteLint
(Fig.1). By indicating the
- position and delay of the own train
- the state of the route ahead of the train (set or still
occupied by other trains)
- positions and delays of the trains in front and the
first train behind
the driver shall be enabled to drive his train in such a way that
he avoids earliness and conflicts with other trains. This shall
help to reduce the number of unplanned stops and thereby
improve throughput in the capacity bottlenecks which is the
main concern of the infrastructure manager. However the
train operating companies which profit from a better traffic
flow in the network as well because of less delays they are
also able to reduce their energy consumption, which is of
growing economic importance.

Figure 1: MMI of RouteLint Driver

Information System
Before the system-wide implementation of such an ICT
system tools are needed which prove the efficiency of the
chosen solution during pilot applications.
So far, energy consumption of electric trains had to be
measured either onboard for an individual train - which is
costly - or offboard in traction substations which measure
all trains at once, so that the analysis is difficult if only a few
trains are equipped with a new technology e.g. during pilot
projects.
For the evaluation of a pilot of its driver information system
RouteLint the Dutch railway infrastructure manager ProRail
applies a tool called EMMA (Energy Measurement
Monitoring and Analysis) developed by Dresden University
of Technology. This tool computes energy consumption of
trains based on track side data, which is available offline in
the control centres of the railway network for all trains. This
new approach needs two processing steps, which are
explained in detail in this paper:
1. Reconstruction of train speed profiles based on track
occupation data (Section 2).
2. Determination of traction energy consumption for a
single train under consideration of the errors
(Section 3)
The proposed tool is applied for the first time for Intercity
passenger trains on the line from The Hague to Venlo. This
case study is presented in Section 4.

2 Reconstruction of speed profiles based on motion.

track occupation data
Energy consumption of a train depends largely on the way it
is driven. The way of driving can be measured onboard e.g.
using odometers or GPS devices. In order to compare
multiple trains in their way of driving, extensive
communication infrastructure and bandwidth is needed to
transmit the measurements to a central database for
evaluation. In traditional railway networks, the running of the
train can also be followed online in operation control centres
based on train number identification and monitoring systems.
Goverde [3] proposed to use the data from the track detection
system for the reconstruction of speed profiles in station
areas. This approach has been extended to whole sections
between consecutive stations by Albrecht et al. [2] and shall
be summarized here before the major new additions are
presented which have been made to improve the quality and
availability of the results as well as the computation speed.

(1)
(2)
. Here, the known starting position of
for
track section k is denoted with
, the speed of the train at
the section entrance with
and the average acceleration of
the train on a section with
. The measured time when the
train entered the track section shall be denoted
(This is the
time when the first axle of a train passes a section joint as
shown in Fig. 2). The measured time is the value of the real
occupation time
rounded down to the full second
. The real occupation time must therefore be
regarded as unknown within certain boundaries. The variables
and indices are illustrated in Fig. 3.
xk
tk

xk+1
tk+1

Vk+1

ak+1

ak
vk
t

Figure 3: Explanation of used variables

Equations (1) and (2) can be used to formulate the following
non-linear least squares problem: It consists of finding
variables
and
so that

(3)
becomes equal to the known position of the next track section
. Note that
is a known parameter in Equation (3)
and not a variable. It shall further be noted that this problem
contains some redundancy concerning the use of
. Only
the entrance speed in the first section is an independent
variable. All consecutive speeds can be calculated with
and
are known. For this reason the
Equation (2) if all
problem
consists
of
determining
2n
variables
Figure 2: Section joint between two track sections
2.1 Fundamentals of speed reconstruction [2]
The motion of a train can be described as dynamic process
with acceleration as control variable and speed and position
as state variables. In order to derive these variables from the
track occupation times and track section positions, the motion
of the train shall be described by Newtons discrete law of

.
Now the least-squares optimisation problem can be
formulated:
the
sum
of
squared
errors
shall be minimized
while satisfying
for all k. From an
algorithmic point of view it is more convenient not to
consider the occupation times as constraints but as additional
term in the optimisation function. With the assumption of an
equal distribution of the real occupation time in the interval

the mean of this distribution is

.
Any deviation from this mean (error) shall be penalised. At
last the differences between acceleration values on
consecutive sections shall be considered as error as well and
shall therefore be minimised in order to obtain a smooth ride.
One then obtains the following optimisation problem:

(4)
Here, the first term represents the position error. The second
term represents the error introduced to deal with the
boundedness of the real occupation time. The third term
represents the deviations between consecutive accelerations.
The coefficients
determine the importance of the single
criteria for the objective function and also serve to scale the
different errors, e.g. a time difference of 1 s between real and
measured occupation time might be acceptable but an
acceleration difference of 1 m/s might not. Only the first of
the three error terms can reasonably be 0, so
should be
chosen significantly bigger than the other weights.
This minimisation problem can be solved using the
Levenberg-Marquardt-Algorithm which is e.g. available in
MATLAB. This algorithm is particularly efficient if all
components of the objective function are partially
differentiable with respect to all variables which is the case
for the examined problem. All these partial derivatives form
the Jacobian matrix which is used by most implementations
of the Levenberg-Marquardt-Algorithm to significantly speed
up the optimisation process.

term in the objective function. During multiple experiments it

could be shown that values of o = 5 and m = 20 or bigger
deliver results which are equal to the optimisation of the
entire section between two stations and reduces computation
time by 85%.
The assumption of a constant acceleration rate per section
might lead to very high speeds or speeds below 0 at the exit
of a long section (see also [2]). In order to obtain reasonable
results, long sections are split in two (or more) subsections
(See Fig. 5 for a practical example). Because the entrance
time(s) into the newly created subsection(s) is (are) unknown,
is set to a very small value for all virtual
the weight
for each subsection
subsections, i.e. there is a specific
k. At the corresponding subsection, only the position error
and the difference between consecutive acceleration values
are part of the objective function.
Still situations might occur where the speed becomes larger
than maximal or minimal speed. Therefore a piecewise linear
penalty function as shown in Fig. 6 is introduced as fifth term
in the objective function. The partial derivative of the
,
or 0 which
function with respect to speed is
is used in the Jacobian matrix.
Regarding as single
Division of section between
two stations into subsequences optimisation problem
subsequence 1
subsequence 2
subsequence 3

2.2 Extensions to the original algorithm

|

for all

as additional (fourth)

Computation
Time

Figure 4: Division of one section between two station into

several subsequences of track sections

Additional point
(no time
available)

140

Speed in km/h

The computation time increases more than linearily with the

number of variables, i.e. with the number of occupation times
considered consecutively. But it could be shown in
experiments, that the values obtained for a section k depend to
a large extent on their direct neighbours (k+1, k-1) and the
bigger the distance d between a section k and a section k - d or
k + d, the smaller its influence on
and
becomes.
This property can be used to improve computation speed by
splitting the original sequence of sections into several
subsequences of a given length m. These subsequences
overlap by a certain number of sections o. In the algorithm,
the speed profile of the first subsequence is computed
(sections 1 to m, speed values
). Then, the speed
profile for the second subsequence from sections m - o to 2m
is computed as well (see Fig. 4). On the contrary to the first
subsequence, a good estimate for the starting speed for the
second subsequence is available with
. It was
therefore
decided
to
introduce
the
term

120
100

Without
introduction of
additional point

80
60
40

Original section

20
44

46

48

50

52

54

Position in km

Figure 5: Concept of virtual sections: The virtual subsections

starts at the additional point

f (vk)

f (vk)

w5,max

vmax

vk

Figure 6: Penalty function used to force speeds into valid

region

3 Computation of energy consumption from

train trajectories
3.1 Energy consumption of a single train
In order to determine the traction energy consumption of the
train, speed and tractive effort have to be known. From the
reconstruction process one can obtain the speed itself. The
tractive effort
can be obtained from the mean
acceleration value for each section, if all driving resistances
(vehicle resistance, track resistance) and train mass are
known, because
with
(5)

Note that potential energy win from recuperative braking is

not considered in this equation. Neither the efficiency of the
traction is considered here.
Fig. 7 shows two reconstructed speed profiles for a section
between two consecutive stops. Both trains travelled this
section in 720 s. Their energy consumption however differs
significantly: The train run 1964 (continuous line) is not
disturbed and therefore only 150 kWh of energy are
consumed. The train run 1978 (dotted line) is disturbed in the
middle of its run. The train has to accelerate a second time
(after Gilze-Rijen) to a higher speed, which requires it total
240 kWh of energy (+60%).

140
Gilze-Rijen

(7)

120

Speed in km/h

w5,min

100
80

Train
1978

Train
1964

60
40
20

The parameters/ functions of this equation can be determined

in the following way:
x
The train running resistance is speed dependent and can
be described using one of the equations from the
literature, which are usually of the form
Fr,veh (v) = Av + Bv + C
(6)
The parameters depend on train composition (which
must be known), but also on the actual state of the train
(age) or environmental conditions (especially wind).
x
The track resistance is dependent on the position along
the track, the length of the train and the mass
distribution along the train. Data about track gradients,
curve and switch resistance can be obtained from
infrastructure databases.
x
Train mass can be weighed by track mounted scales or
(for passenger trains) using train composition and
information from passenger counting systems or vehicle
suspension system.
The effort to get exact data on all these parameters is huge.
As the reconstructed speed profile itself is only a rough
estimate of the real speed profile, it was decided to use a
higher abstraction level also for the train and track model and
try to regard and describe the variation of the parameters as
stochastic influence as will be explained in the next
subsection.
Traction energy consumption can be computed from
(positive) tractive effort and speed as follows:

0
0

10

15

20

Position in km

Figure 7: Comparison of undisturbed and disturbed train run

with same running time
3.2 Error analysis/ Model calibration
The computation of the traction energy consumption based on
a speed profile with values available only at a few discrete
points contains measurement errors which have to be
analysed. One can distinguish between systematic errors (e.g.
due to the discrete nature of the speed profile) or random
errors (e.g. due to variation of train mass or wind force).
These errors must be analysed by comparing the energy
consumption obtained from the reconstruction process with
measured energy consumption values in order to calibrate the
whole algorithm.
The relationship between measurements and reconstructed
values has to be determined, e.g. using regression analyis
which leads to a functional description of the systematic error
depending on a few parameters (time, energy consumption).
In the next step, the distribution of the random error between
the corrected energy consumption and the measured energy
consumption must be analysed.
The obtained regression function and error distribution must
be considered both, if calculated energy consumption values
are to be compared. First, the systematic error must be
eliminated by applying the obtained regression function.

Speed in km/h

Time gap betw een tw o detections

The EMMA software can import original realisation data

delivered by ProRail - track section occupation data (text
files) and vehicle scheduling files (excel format). The most
important static information - the positions of all the track
sections - has to be entered manually so far, which is errorprone and time-consuming. Thats why it is currently being
analysed whether and how this and other data can be imported
automatically from existing infrastructure information
systems.

Speed from SolveraLynx meter

140

100
80

10:44

11:14

11:44

12:14

12:44

Blerick
Venlo

Blerick

Horst=Sevenum
Horst=Sevenum

Deurne
Deurne

Helmond
Helmond

Eindhoven
Eindhoven

Tilburg

Tilburg

Breda

Breda

Dordrecht

Dordrecht

Rotterdam CS

20

Rotterdam CS

40

Delft
Delft

60
Den Haag CS
Den Haag HS
Den Haag HS

Speed in km/h

120

13:14

Time

Figure 8: Complete run on the 1900 line: reconstructed speeds are indicated with x, speed measurements with GPS are
indicated with +. Note the unavailability of GPS between Rotterdam and Dordrecht (tunnels).

x
(9)
with

being the discrete frequency distribution of real

the discrete frequency distribution

energy consumption,
of energy consumption as delivered by the speed
reconstruction and application of the regression function, see
Equation (8).

is the distribution of the random error.

4 Case study
A tool called EMMA (Energy Measurement Monitoring and
Analysis) has been developed by Dresden University of
Technology, on order of ProRail, which incorporates all the
described algorithms. It has been implemented under
Microsoft Windows using C# for interface design, data access
and result plotting and C++ for the computationally intensive
reconstruction of speed profiles.

The system has first been applied on the railway line from
The Hague Central Station to Venlo. This line is double track
on most of its 180 km length. It also contains some four track
sections.
Speed profiles were reconstructed for Intercity trains of line
1900 travelling the whole of the line with a maximal speed of
140 km/h and stopping in 13 stations. On this line, RouteLint
is currently being tested and EMMA will be used to estimate
the energy savings obtained with this Driver Information
System. During one ride on this line, a train passes
approximately 360 track sections. The distribution of the time
gap between two detections is illustrated in Fig. 9.
It can be seen that about 85% of the time gaps are smaller
than 30 s on this line. The smaller values occur in station
areas, which is very important for energy consumption
calculation: In the station areas, the trains change speed with
higher frequency and amplitude compared to the open track.
The reconstruction of one train trajectory for the whole line
Figure 9: Frequency distribution of time gaps between two
consecutive sections

>60 s

(45 s;
60 s]

(30
s;45 s]

(15
s;30 s]

In order to compare multiple rides e.g. with and without a

Driver Information System the decision makers usually
want information about an average energy saving which can
be obtained. In order to find out whether a difference is
statistically significant, statistical tests like the t-test must be
applied. They require knowledge not only about the mean
values of the distributions to be compared but also about their
variance. This can be obtained by convolving the frequency
distribution of energy consumption of each group of rides
with the error distribution (see [6] for a detailed description of
the convolution of discrete frequency distributions):

<5s

(8)

[5 s; 15
s]

160
N 140
o 120
of 100
s 80
e 60
cti 40
20
0

takes between 2 and 3 seconds computation time on a PC

with 3 GHz processor.
Speed profiles are systematically being verified using GPS
measurements, where GPS speed information is available
(outside of tunnels, see Fig. 8).
Model calibration has been done for the line 1900 as well as
for line 3600 which travels partly on the same line. On both
lines loco-hauled trains are used for the calibration. Energy
meters were installed on five locomotives for the EU
TRAINER project [5]. These meters measure total electric
energy consumption of the train, i.e. including helper energy
consumption, consumption of HVAC systems and losses in
the traction systems etc. It was shown, that energy from speed
profile and measured electric energy consumption are
linearily related (description of systematic error by linear
function, see Fig. 10). For the remaining random error neither
the Kolmogorov-Smirnov-test nor the Chi-Square test reject
the hypothesis, that it is normally distributed. Both properties
are now used for the comparison of rides with and without
RouteLint.
The EMMA software has different options to display results
for a single train or multiple trains, e.g.
- Speed profiles (see Fig. 11)
- Speed frequency analysis at bottlenecks
- Energy over running time diagram
- Energy consumption analysis (mean, variance)
An outlier analysis (to determine best/ worst driving styles) is
currently under discussion.
First tests have been carried out for applying EMMA to
freight trains. Speed profiles could successfully be verified
using GPS.mailto:nrichards@iee.org.uk The calibration of the
energy model using energy meters will be done as soon as the
latter are available.

Figure 10: Regression analysis computed vs. measured energy

consumption

Figure 11: Speed profiles of multiple trains on one section.

The bottleneck at Lage Zwaluwe (unplanned stop)
is clearly visible.

5 Conclusions and outlook

The proposed algorithm allows estimating energy
consumption based on track occupation data. In order to
calibrate the model, only a few trains have to be equipped
with energy meters, which saves installation and operating
cost. The required data (track section occupation times) is
available for the entire railway network and so the developed
EMMA tool is very much scalable. In order to apply EMMA
to other lines, the lengths of all track sections must be known.
It is part of the current work to extract this data from a given
microscopic network model.
So far, only trains without regenerative braking have been
regarded. This was seen as sufficient, as in the Netherlands
trains are supplied with 1500 V DC and in DC networks with
short substation distances the efficiency of recuperative
braking depends on the availability of other consumers
(accelerating trains) in the same substation area. If EMMA
shall be applied to recuperative trains, an estimation of the
receptivity of the network must be made. Another field of
research is the applicability of the tool to Diesel trains, where
the fuel consumption is expected to be strongly related to
engine efficieny and it is an open question which level of
detail is needed to get sufficient modelling accuracy.
EMMA is a powerful tool to analyse railway traffic and
energy consumption on the basis of track occupation data. It
makes operational effects visible to traffic analysts, train
drivers and decision makers and required nothing more (and
nothing less) than the intelligent exploitation of existing data.

References
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[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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