Enhancing Sustainability of Rail Transit System by Applying Multi-Agent System

Currently, sustainable development is one of the most critical challenges of the society, and rail transit causes multiple impacts on the environment, such as pollutant emissions, noise, and land use. Furthermore, sustainability research in the field of rail transport requires deep integration of multiple factors, including safety, punctuality, energy efficiency, and riding comfort. The present paper proposes a multi-agent system (MAS), in which trains can directly exchange information with other trains and make decisions. Compared with the centralized control approach, this MAS approach can reduce the computational load of the central controller and improve the efficiency of information exchange. Furthermore, a hybrid communication and decision-making system within the MAS enables each train to seek a sustainable driving strategy. The feasibility of the proposed MAS is tested by a case study, and the results show a good potential of this kind of system. The presented information is expected to promote the thinking of how to realize fully automatic train control approaches in the future.