Improving response to unplanned passenger rail disruption: a new method to locate rail-replacement bus reserves

This paper presents a new method for assessing bus reserve location to best service unplanned passenger rail service disruptions. This is done by optimising location in relation to travel time to rail replacement, the volume of rail replacement incidents and the scale and spatial distribution of passengers affected. When rail disruptions unexpectedly occur, re-establishing network connectivity is paramount and the provision of a rail-replacement service is common. Minimising response time is critical in reducing impacts on affected commuters. Currently, reserve buses for such purposes are usually sourced from existing bus depot locations, which are generally situated to suit regular operations. Strategically locating bus reserves according to criteria such as disruption likelihood provides the opportunity to better cater for disrupted demand. The bus reserve location may not be fixed and could vary by time of day and disruption demand. New methodologies are presented and analysis highlights how ideal depot locations change in relation to location criteria including; travel time to bus bridging termini, likelihood of a disruption and commuter volumes affected. When only travel time was investigated, the ideal depot location was centrally positioned, whilst when consideration was given to the disruption likelihood, the ideal depot location shifted to areas of increased occurrence. Finally when exploring the impacts of potentially disrupted commuters, in most cases the ideal depot location shifted in favour of areas of higher patronage demand. The methodology presented can improve responsiveness to unplanned passenger rail disruptions. The paper discusses the implications of findings for future research and practice.