Optimizing air-rail travel connections: A data-driven delay management strategy for seamless passenger journeys

In the world of modern travel, where multimodal trips are becoming increasingly common, flight or train delays can jeopardise passengers’ journeys by threatening connections. To address this issue, we present a delay management strategy on a multimodal network that involves seamless collaboration between air and rail transportation stakeholders. The objective is to minimise the total delay experienced by passengers at their final destination by rescheduling flights and trains at a tactical level. The decision whether to hold a train or a flight for connecting passengers depends on the available re-accommodation options. We propose an integer linear programming formulation of the problem at the network level, considering real-world constraints such as train station and airport capacities, minimum aircraft turnaround time, and flight slot adherence. To demonstrate the potential of this approach, we dive into a data-driven case study covering 496 airports, including three major hubs and 72 train stations across Europe. We simulate an incident on the French rail network that causes significant delays at Paris-CDG station. The results show that delaying 5% of departing flights at Paris- CDG airport by 13 minutes on average could reduce the number of stranded passengers at the airport by 71%. Such a decrease translates into a 40% reduction in the total delay experienced by passengers at their destination. This work highlights the potential benefits of air-rail integration, and the importance of information sharing between stakeholders to improve passenger journey reliability.