Proposal for a railway layer model

In railway systems, timetables and infrastructure are key components for satisfying transport needs. In order to find a feasible configuration that satisfies the complex set of requirements, numerous timetables and track topologies have to be evaluated. Therefore, there is an immense need for automatic timetable and track topology design. This paper discusses the concept of creating abstraction layers based on a data model to support and simplify these designs. It uses different state-of-the-art models and combines them so that all aspects of railway operation are included. Using this method, a layer model has been developed that was inspired by the OSI Reference Model and takes current developments such as the UIC RailTopoModel into consideration. Possible applications of such a layer model are the automatic generation of timetables and track topologies, as well as entrance data for synchronous railway simulations for capacity evaluation, and a universal representation of a railway network.