Optimization of Train Operating Plans for Zhengzhou-Xuchang Suburban Railway

Suburban railways are important transportation hubs connecting central cities with surrounding towns and functional areas, playing a significant role in relieving the pressure on central urban areas and promoting regional integrated development. Optimizing its operating plan is essential for enhancing intercity commuting efficiency and operational benefits. This study addresses the resource wastage caused by the fixed operating plan of the Zhengzhou-Xuchang suburban railway by proposing a dynamic optimization mechanism with daily customized schedules. A mixed integer programming model is constructed with minimizing passenger waiting time and vehicle kilometers traveled as objectives. By introducing a hybrid operation mode of the large and small routes, the model takes station locations of large/small routes and departure frequencies as decision variables. The model is converted from the bi-objective problem into a single-objective one through dimensional unification and linear weighting. Then validates the model at the case of Zheng-Xu line by using Python. Results show that the optimized solution significantly outperforms the original fixed scheme in simultaneously improving passenger experience and corporate operational efficiency.