Sets of seven. 666. The Whore of Babylon and the Seven-headed Beast. How would first-century readers have heard these things? One can get at an answer by asking, How does the Book of Revelation compare with contemporaneous Jewish apocalypses? God's Timetable unlocks the hitherto unseen Jewish background to the Apocalypse based on the seven weeks leading up to Pentecost, the Harvest Feast. The meaning of Revelation suddenly becomes clearer. Stramara situates the Book of Revelation in its original context as a prophetic work regarding the end of the world, the final harvest, and Jesus as the fulfillment of expectations.

The book comprises a number of research papers presented at several Computers in Railways Conferences. It has been compiled by Ingo A. Hansen, President of the International Association of Railway Operations Research (IAROR) and comprises selected papers originating from different countries, such as Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The papers give an overview of the current state-of-the-art analytical approaches, methods and simulation tools for the modelling and analysis of network timetables, the distribution of train delays and real-time rescheduling of perturbed operations. The topics include e.g. railway capacity estimation according to the UIC norm 406, train punctuality analysis based on standard track occupation and clearance data, and boarding, alighting and distribution of passengers along suburban trains, as well as fast recognition and resolution of conflicts between train movements in case of disturbances by means of real-time speed adaptation, re-ordering or re-routing. The book can serve as an introduction to the theory of railway traffic, timetable design, operations analysis, simulation, safety and control for Master and PhD students from engineering faculties and professionals working in the railway industry.

With increase in the use of railway transport, ensuring robustness in railway timetables has never been this important. In a dense railway timetable even a small disturbance can propagate easily and affect trains' arrival and departure times. In a robust timetable small delays are absorbed and knock-on effects are prevented effectively. The aim of this thesis is to study how optimization tools can support the generation of robust railway traffic timetables. We address two Train Timetabling Problems (TTP) and for both problems we apply Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to solve them from network management perspectives. The first problem is how robustness in a given timetable can be assessed and ensured. To tackle this problem, a headway-based method is introduced. The proposed method is implemented in real timetables and evaluated from performance perspectives. Furthermore, the impact of the proposed method on capacity utilization, heterogeneity and the speed of trains, is monitored. Results show that the proposed method can improve robustness without imposing major changes in timetables. The second problem addressed in the thesis is how robustness can be assessed and maintained in a given timetable when allocating additional traffic and maintenance slots. Different insertion strategies are studied and their consequences on capacity utilization and on the properties of the timetables are analyzed. Two different insertion strategies are considered: i) simultaneous and ii) stepwise insertion. The results show that inserting the additional trains simultaneously usually results in generating more optimal solutions. However, solving this type of problem is computationally challenging. We also observed that the existing robustness metrics cannot capture the essential properties of having more robust timetables. Therefore we proposed measuring Channel Width, Channel Width Forward, Channel Width Behind and Track Switching. Furthermore, the experimental analysis of the applied MILP model shows that some cases are computationally hard to solve and there is a need to decrease the computation time. Hence several valid inequalities are developed and their effects on the computation time are analyzed. This thesis contains three papers which are appended. The results of this thesis are of special interests for railway traffic planners and it would support their working process. However, railway traffic operators and passengers also benefit from this study.

The GB Rail Timetable contains rail services operated over the GB rail network, together with rail and shipping connections with Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands. Published by TSO with permission from Network Rail (owners of Britain's national railway and stations) the GB Rail Timetable - Winter Edition 11 holds details on passenger services operated by the Train Companies, who work together closely to provide a coordinated rail network offering a range of travel opportunities.