Carrying capacity calculation method of regional rail transit line based on flexible train formation

Flexible train formation technology (FTFT) provides new prospects for addressing the imbalance in the space-time distribution of passenger flow in regional rail transit networks. In this study, we performed a detailed analysis of the operation organizations and technical characteristics of multiple formation, variable formation based on physical coupling, and variable formation based on virtual coupling. The proposed carrying capacity calculation method is mainly based on the parallel train diagram and is suitable for urban rail transit, suburban railway, and other lines, and adapts to FTFT. Actual data of the region are used to calculate the carrying capacity of the mainline railway in multiple scenarios. According to the verification, the calculation results are highly consistent with those of timetabling methods. We demonstrate that variable formation based on virtual coupling has the lowest impact on the carrying capacity. Finally, the applicability of different FTFT is explained according to the carrying capacity and technical operation characteristics.