A double time-scale passenger assignment model for high-speed railway networks with continuum capacity approximation

This study models spatiotemporal passenger flow distribution for high-speed railway (HSR) networks with capacity constraints. The HSR travel demand involves two time-dimensions, i.e., the ticket booking time and the desired departure time. Under the principle of first-booked-first-served, a passenger flow assignment model is formulated, where a later ticket booking time may result in less available travel options. A solution algorithm is then designed for solving the ticket-booking-time-dependent assignment model. The model is tested and illustrated with two numerical examples: a toy network example and a large-scale Chinese HSR network example.