How does the size of the “gap” in front of a train appear to influence the dwell time? How does the size of the “gap” in front of a train appear to influence the moving time? Is it different or the same? Why do you think this is the case?

Gap v/s dwell time: Based on the data provided for the record purposes, the average for the gap time along with the dwell time is calculated. The gap in front of a train is depicting the time between a train’s arrival at a station and the time the previous train on that track arrived at the station. While the dwell time is used to narrate the time for which the loading and the unloading processes of the train as well as the opening & the closing processes of the train take place. It helps the passengers to alight or board. The more the gap time exists between the trains, the more the dwelling time pertains between them. It can be said that there exists the direct relationship between these two parameters. The size of Gap (headway) and Dwell time have a significant relationship with each other. The longer the train stands on platform (high dwell time) there will be an increase in the headway variability.  It means that the train system performance gets affected by high dwell time. Similarly when the headway variability increases the train dwell time increases as a result.

From the above graphs, it can be seen that the increase in headway variability is causing an increase in dwell time. For improving the train system quality the headway variability should be reduced so that dwell time can be reduced appropriately.

Gap v/s moving time: Based on the data provided for the record purposes, the average for the gap time along with the moving time is calculated. The moving time tends to determine the time at which the train moves from one station to the other. Just like dwelling time, the relationship of the gap as well as the moving time is also directly proportional. If the gap between the two destinations (i.e., two trains increases), the time to move from one destination to the other also tends to increase. If we rely on the provided data, it can be said that most of the provided records are showing the similar data as is narrated. For every increase or decrease to the gap time, the corresponding moving time is also increasing or decreasing between the two destinations respectively.

1.  For the 1 line segment, for the increased moving time, there exists the less corresponding dwell time and the gap time. For the L line segment, for the decreased moving time, there exists the increased corresponding dwell time and the gap time. These differences may exist due to the length of the route which is varying for both 1 and L line segment. The other possible reasoning may be the traffic congestion on the specified route.

From the above graphs, it can be seen that the variability in the Headway (gap) is lower in the 1 line due to which the dwell time of trains of line 1 is also lower. The dwell time is showing downward trend due to downward trend in the gap. It is evident that the higher the variability in Gap the higher will be the dwelling time. Similarly lower variability results in lower dwelling time.