Shaping the future of a commuter rail corridor

Empowering a Transit Organization with Strategic Insights for Sustained Growth

DB E.C.O. North America partnered with a regional transit agency to improve and refine their commuter rail system. Through analysis of the rail corridor’s operations, equipment, and performance, we identified areas for development, addressing core strategic questions related to service, reliability, and cost-efficiency. Our multi-faceted approach encompassed evaluations of equipment upgrades, alternative powertrains, operational adjustments, and market potential for service expansion. Our findings and recommendations paved the way to not only enhance their current operations but also plan for a future-oriented evolution of their commuter rail corridor.

Challenge

A leading regional transit agency sought comprehensive support for the expansion and improvement of their commuter rail system. With future growth in mind, our client needed expertise in several areas, including service concept development, timetable planning, operations analysis, equipment performance evaluation, and dynamic operations simulations.

Approach

DB E.C.O. North America initiated a thorough analysis of the commuter rail corridor’s operations, equipment, performance, and service data to identify areas for optimization and answer several strategic questions. The strategic questions centered around service, reliability, sustainability, cost efficiency, and growth. The DB team worked on several key workflows to provide answers and insights:

• Performed an in-depth assessment to determine potential travel time savings resulting from upgraded equipment and track speed increases.
• Evaluated alternative powertrain options considering technical innovations, projected capital and operating costs, emissions, and energy consumption.
• Defined operationally feasible concepts to expand service during peak periods including capital investment opportunities and operational adjustments.
• Documented best practices and approaches for managing and recovering from day-to-day operational variations, including delay events.
• Generated an operations and maintenance (O&M) cost model tailored to the current financial landscape and operating conditions which could be used to forecast potential incremental costs associated with future improvements.
• Completed a comprehensive analysis of existing regional travel data to determine the potential market for service expansion.

To ensure that the proposed strategies were stable, effective, and produced the intended results, DB developed and calibrated a dynamic RailSys simulation model of the corridor and tested scenarios.

Results

After extensive research and analysis, DB E.C.O. North America provided the transit agency with strategic answers and methodologies to grow and optimize their commuter rail service. From simple operational adjustments to long-term capital investments, our results set the stage for a comprehensive future-oriented transformation of the commuter rail corridor.