Vehicle Formation Scheme for Wuxi Metro Line 5

Abstract

Objective To somewhat address the issues of low passenger load factor, high operating cost, and excessive reliance on government subsidies in medium-sized urban rail transit network, taking Wuxi Metro Line 5 as example, a formation scheme of new line vehicles is developed based on the actual passenger flow on operating lines. Method Starting from the actual passenger flow of the existing lines using 6-car formation and considering the potential impact of sudden large passenger flow in the scenic spot, the long-term formation scheme for Wuxi Metro Line 5 is first investigated to determine the civil engineering scale, and then the 25-year operating cost and purchase cost are analyzed by comparing the initial and recent adoption of a 4-car formation and the ′3+3′ coupled formation schemes. Result & Conclusion Research results indicate that, based on the consideration of actual passenger flow and sudden large passenger flow, it is recommended to implement civil engineering according to a 6-car formation. In initial and short terms, the 3-car and 4-car formations shall be adopted to enhance service level, and the ′3+3′ coupled formation scheme can offer higher operating efficiency and flexibility, but its practical application cases are limited and the technological maturity needs further estimation. Therefore, it is ultimately recommended to adopt a 4-car formation for the initial term, which can improve service level while increasing passenger load factor and passenger volume.

Keywords

• urban rail transit
• train formation
• scheme investigation