MEASURING RAILWAY TRACK CAPACITY AND UTILIZATION FOR KERETAPI TANAH MELAYU BERHAD (KTMB)

Abstract

The issue of how to achieve maximum capacity in various systems operations in meeting the growing passenger and cargo demand has become an urgent task for railway managers and policy makers. The aims of this study is to evaluate an assessment of the current track capacity and its current utilization as well as assessment of the future of track utilization. In this study, the track capacity analysis covers four main Regions in Peninsular Malaysia, namely Northern, Central, Southern and East Coast which involved a total of 22 routes. There are complex components used to measure the track capacity in this study were the dwell time, train control and signalling system, operating margin, non-interference headway, turnbacks and junctions, and power supply.  The Service Grade Indicator for Track Capacity (AAR “National Rail Freight Infrastructure Capacity and Investment Study”, September 2007) was referred to determine the level of service. The findings of this study outlines that the average utilization of the whole KTMB track network is approximately 87% (Service Grade E), in which the Northern Region utilizes about 88% of track capacity (Service Grade E), the Central Region at 110% of track capacity (Service Grade F), the Southern Region 47% (Service Grade C) and the East Coast Region is utilizing about 25% of track capacity (Service Grade B). In order to increase efficiency of KTMB operations, based on all analysis conducted, this study provides important recommendations specifically at the bottleneck section.  At the bottleneck section in the Klang Valley area, it is suggested that investment should be considered to construct a dedicated track for cargo and high speed train to ensure the efficiency of services by KTMB.