Analysis of subway station capacity with the use of queueing theory

A new concept of subway station capacity (SSC) is defined according to the gathering and scattering process. A queuing network analytical model of station is created for calculating SSC, which is built by M/G/C/C state dependent queuing network and discrete time Markov chain (DTMC). Based on the definition and the analytical queuing network, a SSC optimization model is developed, whose objective function is to optimize SSC with a satisfactory rate of remaining passengers. Besides, a solution to the model is proposed integrating response surface methodology with iterative generalized expansion method (IGEM) and DTMC. A case study of Beijing Station in Beijing subway line 2 is implemented to verify the validity and practicability of the proposed methods by comparison with simulation model in different experiments. Finally, some sensitivity analysis results are provided to identify the nodes that have the greatest impact on SSC. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.