Investigation of parameters affecting the travel time at tramway systems: the case of Athens, Greece

Within the framework of this paper, various parameters that might affect the efficiency and the reliability of a tramway system are examined. Two linear regression models are built in order to investigate the way these parameters are affecting the commercial speed and the travel time deviation, respectively. The case study is the tramway of Athens which operates since the 2004 Olympic Games. Although numerous interventions have been made in order to improve the provided level of service of the system, a lot of debate among transportation engineers and the users of the system is active. The analysis showed that the most important parameter that affects the commercial speed of the tramway is the corridor type. Other important parameters that significantly can contribute on the increase of the commercial speed are the number of signals, the number of narrow curves and the dwell time at stops. On the other hand, the reliability of the system, defined as the difference between the actual versus the scheduled travel time, was found to be statistically affected by parameters which are related most with the track layout such as the number of narrow curves, the length of inclined segments etc