Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3194-2

RESEARCH ARTICLE - CIVIL ENGINEERING

Optimal Configuration of the Metro Rail Transit Station Service

Facilities by Integrated Simulation-Optimization Method Using
Passengers’ Flow Fluctuation
Afaq Khattak1,2 · Jiang Yangsheng1 · Malik Muneeb Abid2

Received: 6 November 2017 / Accepted: 20 March 2018 / Published online: 28 March 2018
© King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2018

Abstract
This paper proposes an integrated discrete-event simulation (DES) using phase-type (PH) distribution and optimization method
for the performance assessment, as well as optimal configuration of metro rail transit (MRT) station service facilities. The
MRT facilities (including ticket facilities and elevator) are represented as a queuing network system with the passengers’
arrival flow and the service time based on the PH distribution, which considers the flow and service time fluctuation. The
necessary performance measures include facility utilization, mean number of passengers and waiting time of passengers in
the facilities are obtained by PH-based DES model of service facilities. The model is then coupled with a genetic algorithm
that works simultaneously to give the optimal configuration of service facilities. The results of PH-based DES model are first
verified by existing PH-based analytical models and then compared with other existing exponential-based and deterministic-
based queuing models. The results reveal that increase in squared coefficient of variation of arrival interval causes an increase
in the performance measure values and high number of ticket facilities compared to existing models. The existing models
therefore underestimate the results. The squared coefficient of variation is an important parameter and cannot be ignored in
analysis and design of service facilities. This research provides a more realistic and novel PH-based DES, as well as PH-based
simulation-optimization method that will assist the planners and designers of MRT stations to make intelligent decisions
regarding analysis and design.

Keywords Metro rail transit · Discrete-event simulation · Phase-type distribution · Simulation-optimization · Ticket facilities ·
Elevator facility

List of symbols c Number of servers in each facility

i Number of facility q Peak-hour volume (ped/h)
λa,i Passengers’ arrival rate to the ith facility 1F Ground floor
E[X] Passengers’ arrival interval − 1F Lower ground floor
ε Peak-hour factor α Sub-stochastic vector for the passengers’ arrival
2
ca,i Squared coefficient of variation of arrival interval process
of the ith facility D Sub-generator matrix for the passengers’ arrival
μs,i Mean service rate of the ith facility process
2
cs,i Squared coefficient of variation of service time β Sub-stochastic vector for service process of the
of the ith facility service facility
H Sub-generator matrix for service process of the
service facility
B Afaq Khattak ρ Utilization of the facility
afaq.khattak@iiu.edu.pk
E[Nq ] Mean number of passengers in the queue of the
1 School of Transportation and Logistics, Southwest Jiaotong facility
University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China E[Wq ] Mean waiting time of passengers in the queue of
2 Department of Civil Engineering, International Islamic the facility
University, Islamabad, Pakistan

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5500
n Number of passengers in the facility
f Degree of Erlang Distribution
U Uniformly distributed random number
1 Introduction
In modern times, people are switching from driving to metro
rail transits (MRT) due to the advancement in the rail tran-
sit systems. The increasing passengers’ traffic demand has
posed great challenges for the planning and design of the
MRT stations. The performance of MRT stations is a direct
reflection of the rationality of the service facilities design
that naturally became a great concern to both passengers and
operators. The better performance of these service facilities
is the reflection of enhanced design, while inadequate design
often leads to congestion, longer walking time of passengers
between the service facilities, ineffective space utilization,
waste of resources and increase in the passengers’ dwell time
in the facility which in turn implies that there is a direct
correlation between design and performance. For this pur-
pose, the performance assessment of service facilities, such
as the mean number of passengers in the facility and the mean
dwell time in the facility, is of great importance from a design
perspective. Accurate performance assessment can help the
planners and designers of MRT stations to make intelligent
decisions concerning demand and capacity as well as when
and how to upgrade the service facilities. Therefore, accurate
performance assessment and optimal design is the vital step
to ensure that the MRT stations provide effective and safe ser-
vices to the passengers. The MRT stations consist of several
service facilities, such as corridors, stairs, ticket machines,
elevators and platform. To narrow the scope of this research,
we will only consider the ticket facilities and elevator facility
network.
The Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual
(TCQSM) (TCRP-100 Report) [1] as well as Chinese metro
design codes [2] provide the analysis and design procedures
for the service facilities at MRT stations. However, these
analysis and design procedures have several flaws. These
design codes and manuals have a several shortcomings, such
as (1) these manuals and design codes neglect the random-
ness in passengers’ arrival flow; (2) they do not consider the
fluctuation in the service time of the service facilities; (3) the
service facilities are configured and designed separately and
the correlation between them is ignored. As a result, the ser-
vice facilities analysed and designed by these design codes
and manuals often show poor performance and are subject to
heavy congestion.
Due to the intrinsic characteristics of service facilities,
such as the association between the service facilities (servers)
and the passengers (customers/entities) as well as heavy fluc-
tuation in the flow and service time, several researchers in the
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
past have developed the analysis and design procedures for
the service facilities in the MRT station as well as for the other
buildings. Numerous studies describe the service facilities
as the queuing systems, based on which both analytical and
simulation models are developed (as shown in Fig. 1). Sev-
eral analytical queuing models are developed for the analysis
and design pedestrian facilities such as the G/M/1 analyti-
cal queuing model [3], the exponential-based M/G(n)/C/C
analytical queuing model [4–10] and the PH-based analyti-
cal (PH/PH(n)/C/C) queuing model [11]. These analytical
models demonstrated that the pedestrian facilities can be
well described by the queuing system. In particular, the PH-
based analytical queuing model is more realistic in that takes
several important factors into consideration during the anal-
ysis and design of corridor facility that were ignored by the
exponential-based M/G(n)/C/C analytical queuing model.
In the PH/PH(n)/C/C queuing model, both the passen-
gers’ arrival rate and service time (time for passengers to pass
through the service facilities) are described by phase-type
(PH) distribution. The PH-based analytical queuing model
captures the randomness in passengers’ arrival process as
well as the service time of facility (dwell time in the facility)
by using phase-type (PH) distribution. The PH distribution
is a probability distribution that has ability to fit any positive
random number with various squared coefficient of varia-
tion (ca2 ) and keeps the Markovian characteristics. Therefore,
it has replaced other probability distributions especially the
exponential distribution, which is valid only when ca2 is equal
to 1. Several domains such as communication systems, indus-
trial and manufacturing, and reliability modelling use the PH
distribution due of its universality [12–14].
Although on one hand the PH-based analytical queuing
model fully captures the general randomness in passengers’
arrival rate and service time, the closed form solution of
the PH-based analytical model is highly complicated even
for a single facility. It is based on the Quasi-Birth–Death
process (QBD) and Matrix Analytic Scheme (MAS) [15]
that involves an enormous amount of mathematical equation
systems and is iterative in nature and leads to challenging
computational problems. The complexity of solving the PH-
based analytical queuing model is expected to increase when
the single facility model extends to the network model of
facility. There exists a need to develop a method that over-
comes the complications in PH-based analytical method.
Simultaneously taking the advantage of queuing systems
as well as eliminating the need to solve explicit mathemati-
cal expressions, several researchers developed the simulation
models for the facilities analysis. For example, Lovas [16]
developed an G/M/1 DES model, the M/G(n)/C/C DES
model [17,18], and the G/G(n)/C/C DES model [19]. In these
researches, the facilities are first described as a queuing sys-
tem and then translated into the DES models. Based on the
DES models, the analysis and optimization are carried for
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
Analytical Models
Queuing Models for
Simulation Models
Pedestrian Facility
Planning
Simulation-based
Optimization Models
Fig. 1 Literature on the facilities analysis and design
the performance evaluation and optimal design, respectively.
However, the description of facilities in these researches still
needs to be enhanced. Besides the DES modelling method,
the micro-simulation models that are based on the Cellular
Automata model, Social Force model, Lattice-gas model or
other models is another widely used method for the facil-
ities analysis [20–25]. Microscopic simulation models are
more detailed in depicting the real-world system as they
illustrate the individual (vehicles or passengers) character-
istics and their behaviours [26–31]. In addition, the physical
environment of the individuals, such as the circulation facil-
ities, is also necessary in microscopic simulations. Due to
this reason, the microscopic simulation involves extensive
calibration effort as well as large computational time.
On the contrary, the DES model does not require the spe-
cific entity and physical environment, therefore it is more
efficient and simple to calibrate than the micro-simulation
models. Therefore, the DES method has a wide range of
applications because of its accuracy and efficiency [31–35].
Another advantage that makes the DES method superior than
micro-simulation method is its convenient coupling with the
optimization tool to develop a Simulation-Optimization (SO)
method. Recently, the SO method has become a popular and
efficient tool in several domains [36,37]. In the SO method, it
is not required to provide an explicit mathematical expression
of both objective and constraint functions for the optimiza-
tion as in case of analytical optimization method [38–42].
Therefore, the SO method is very useful in those practical
situations where the explicit analytical formulae are too com-
plicated to be deduced.
5501
G/M/1
[3]
Exponential-basedM/G(n)/C/C
[4-10]
PH/PH(n)/C/C
[11] G/M/1 DES [16]
Discrete-Event Exponential-M/G(n)/C/C DES [17-18]
Simulation
G/G(n)/C/C DES [19]
Micro- Cellular Automata, Social Force
Simulation model, Lattice -gas [20-25]
G/G/C/C + Bisection Method
[19]
G/G/C +Integer Programming
[27]
GA based-Train Timetabling
.[28]
However, in order to provide optimal configuration, we
need to integrate the optimization method with the DES
model to formulate the SO method. In the SO method, the
optimization method will estimate the optimal configura-
tion based on the performance measures obtained by the
DES model. To guarantee the accuracy and efficiency of
the SO method, we have to choose an appropriate optimiza-
tion method. In this paper, we choose the genetic algorithm
(GA), which has been used in several researches in integra-
tion with DES model to find the optimal parameters [43–45].
The GA has certain features that make it the only con-
vincing method for SO compared to classical optimization
methods. It has the ability to handle both continuous and
discrete variables as well as both types simultaneously. Due
to the parallel evaluation of n individuals in a population,
it allows parallel simulations on the multi-processor com-
puters. Additionally, it robustly handles discontinuity, and
highly constrained optimization problems without trapping at
local minima. It is also robust to high simulation failure rates.
Furthermore, the frequencies of different optimization meth-
ods for building are shown by Fig. 2. GA has been used most
of the times for building optimization problems than other
methods [45].
Moreover, the SimEvents® software is employed in this
paper as a DES modelling tool. It is computationally com-
petent tool of simulating the systems that are well described
as a sequence of the events. There are two major reasons to
choose SimEvents® for DES modelling of service facilities
at MRT stations. The reasons are:
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Genatic Algorithm (GA)
Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)
Hybrid Algorithm (all kinds)
Linear Programming (LP)
Hooke-Jeeves Algorithm
Other Evolutionary Algorithms
Simulated Annealing
Ant Colony Optimization
Direct Search Algorithm
Branch and Bound Approach
0 5 10
Fig. 2 Frequency of facilities optimization method in different studies. Source: [45]
• The SimEvents® software is appropriate for the mod-
elling of transportation systems. It allows the use of
powerful blockset which gives the option to create models
of different transportation facilities as queuing systems
• The tight integration of SimEvents ® and MATLAB ®
provides a plethora of tools for the results post-processing
and charting. It is also easier to change a SimEvents ®
block diagram than modifying source code of a C, C++
or C-based simulators.
Based on the above analysis, we aim to develop a PH-based
DES model to evaluate the performance of the MRT sta-
tion service facilities that consist of a network (include ticket
facilities and elevator). None of the researchers have so far
considered PH-based DES model for the performance assess-
ment of ticket facilities as well as elevator facility of the MRT
stations to offset the shortcomings in the design codes and
manuals (TCRP-100 Report). Therefore the elevator facility
is described as single-server batch service PH/PHK /1/∞ DES
model with the passengers’ arrival rate and service time of
elevator facility based on phase-type (PH) distribution. The
superscript ‘K’ over the service process in PH/PHK /1/∞ DES
model represents the accommodating capacity of elevator.
It means that elevator can serve ‘K’ number of passengers
simultaneously in the form of a batch. Similarly, the ticket
facilities are described as multi-server PH/PH/c DES model.
The PH-based DES model fully captures the general ran-
domness in passengers’ arrival interval as well service time
of service facilities. The PH-based DES model proposed in
this paper analyses the service facilities in a simpler and more
intuitive manner. Meanwhile, it can serve as an important tool
to validate the PH-based analytical model. Compared to the
existing micro-simulation method, the proposed PH-based
DES model can depict the real-world system more accurately
due to the introduction of PH distribution and possess higher
efficiency at the same time.
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Second, we develop a PH-based SO method by paral-
lel implementation of the PH-based DES model and GA
to work together concurrently and determine the optimal
configuration of ticket facilities. Compared to the exist-
ing design methods such as exponential-based M/G(n)/C/C
and deterministic-based D/D/1/C, the PH-based SO method
determines the optimal configuration based on a more
accurate description of the MRT station service facilities.
Meanwhile, the proposed PH-based SO method aims at opti-
mizing the ticket facilities that comprise of Ticket Vending
Machines (TVM), Ticket Offices (TO) and Automatic Fare
Gates (AFG) more systematically and considers the con-
straints on both mean number of passengers and waiting time
of passengers in queue. The framework of research is illus-
trated in Fig. 3.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Sect. 2, we
present the main notations used in the paper. Then the service
facilities network in the MRT stations is described as a queu-
ing network system in Sect. 3. The PH-based state-dependent
DES model for the service facilities is developed in Sect. 4.
After that, we establish the PH-based SO method that inte-
grates the PH-based DES model and the GA for optimal
configuration of ticket facilities in Sect. 5. The computational
experiment for the performance assessment and optimal con-
figuration are presented in Sect. 6 while the conclusions are
discussed in Sect. 7.
2 Description of Service Facilities as Queuing
Network System
In several MRT stations, buying a ticket from the ticket facil-
ities is the first stage of travelling for passengers. When
passengers enter the ticket lobby from the entrance gate or
after passing through the security screening system, they
move to the queue in the front of ticket facilities, which has
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516 5503

Description of metro station service

facilities as queuing system

Inputs: Passengers’ arrival rate, squared

coefficient of variation, number of
servers, mean service rate

PH fitting of passengers’ arrival flow PH fitting of service facilities service time

PH-based DES model of service

facilities
PH-based DES Model

Genetic Algorithm as optimization tool

NO
Optimal
configuration

YES

Optimized number of service facilities

Optimization

PH-based simulation-
optimization

Fig. 3 Framework of proposed research

the smallest number of passengers. The passengers usually
receive two options for buying the tickets, either by using
TVM or by using TO. Both TVM and TO operate in such a
manner that for each passenger arrival, if all the ticket facil-
ities are busy, then the passenger joins the queue; otherwise
the arriving passenger immediately starts processing their
ticket. In case of long queues during peak hours or heavy
passengers’ flow, most of the passengers would rather wait
than to quit. Therefore, the queuing system is based on the
rule of waiting. Also, in the case of ticket facilities, there
are no restrictions on either the number of passengers in the
queues or the capacity of the system.
In addition to that, the passengers who have the IC e-
card directly move towards the Automatic Fare Gates (AFG)
rather than waiting in queue for buying tickets. The passen-
gers passing through the AFG proceed towards the stairs,
escalator or elevator where they finally reach the platform
of the MRT station. Therefore, these service facilities con-
sisting of ticket facilities and elevator facility form an open
queuing network. The passengers enter the queuing network
from the entrance gate, process the tickets either at TVM
or TO, move towards elevator that transport them vertically
from level 1F to − 1F and leave the network after entering
the platform. The elevator service begins when the elevator
stops at 1F and ends at the time when the elevator comes
back to 1F. Two major phases of the elevator operation are
loading/unloading and movement. The elevator is a single
server and its mean service time is the sum of all the times
taken during loading, unloading, gate opening and closing,
downward and upward movements.
The ticket facilities network can be turned into a topology
of the queuing network system as shown in Fig. 4. The ser-
vice facilities are designated by i = 1, 2, . . . , N , and each
facility is described as a node queue in the queuing net-

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1
From c
Entrance TVM 2
Gate 3 Single Server
1F

1 c
2 AFG
3

c TO
Ticket Facilities

Towards
Platform

-1F

Elevator Facility

A1 / B1 / c1 / ∞

PR ,1
( μs,1 , cs2,1 )

(λ , c )
a
2
a PR ,3
A3 / B3 / c3 / ∞ A4 / B4K / 1/ ∞
(μ s ,3 , cs2,3 ) (μ s ,4 , cs2,4 , K )
PR ,2

A2 / B2 / c2 / ∞
(μ s ,2 , cs2,2 )

Fig. 4 MRT service facilities as a queuing network system

work. The ticket facilities in the network can be described
as multi-server queuing system with passenger arrival inter-
val represented by the random variable Ai , service time of the
ticket facility Bi , the number of servers ci and having infinite
capacity, i.e. Ai /Bi /ci queuing system. In the elevator facil-
ity, the passengers are served in the form of batches of fixed
size ‘K ’, therefore; the elevator facility in the network can
be described as a single-server batch service queuing system
with passenger arrival interval represented by the random
variable ‘A’, service time of the elevator facility ‘B K ’ where
‘K ’ is the accommodating capacity of elevator which means
that elevator can serve ‘K ’ number of passengers simultane-
ously in the form of a batch, having single server and infinite
capacity, i.e. A/B K /1 queuing system.
3 Mathematical Concept of PH Distribution
The PH distribution is a probability distribution that repre-
sents the time to absorption in a Continuous-Time Markov
Chain (CTMC) with one absorbing state and all the other
transient states [46]. PH distributions are commonly repre-
sented by the pair (α, D). Here, α is an initial probability
vector and D is a transient generator matrix which are given
as follows:

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Table 1 Condition for the

Distribution c2 α D
phase-type (PH) distribution
⎛ ⎞
−d0 d0
⎜ −d d
1 1 ⎟
⎜ ⎟
Hypo-exponential <1 α = (1, 0, . . . , 0) D=⎜ .. .. ⎟
⎝ −dm−2 dm−2 ⎠
−dm−1
 −2g
0
Hyper-exponential >1 α = (g, 1 − g) D = E[X ] −2(1− g)
0 E[X ]
Exponential =1 1 −d
Fixed-length ≤ 1/30 Approximate as Erlang-30 distribution
m= 1
c2
dj = m
E[X ] for 0 ≤ j < m − 2

 
2m 1+ 21 m(mc2 −1)
dm−1 = E[X ](m+2−m 2 c2 )
mλm−1
dm−2 = 2λm−1 E[X ]−m

c2 −1
g = 21 + 21 c2 +1

⎛ ⎞
d11 . . . d1m 2 . It should be noted that the E[X ] is the inverse of pas-
and cs,i
⎜ ⎟
α = (α1 , . . . αm ) , D = ⎝ ... . . . ... ⎠ . sengers’ arrival rate λa,i and the service rateμs,i . Therefore,
dm1 · · · dmm the following content shows how to obtain these parameters.

The probability density function (PDF) and cumulative dis-
tribution function (CDF) of PH distribution are given by
Eqs. (1) and (2), respectively.
f (x) = α(exp)Dx e
F(x) = 1 − α(exp) Dx
e (2)
where;
e: is the column vector with all the elements being one.
α: is a sub-stochastic vector of order m, i.e. α is a row
vector, all elements of α are non-negative and αe < 1,
where m is a positive integer; and
D: is a sub-generator of order m, i.e. D is an m ×m matrix
such that (1) all the diagonal elements are negative; (2)
all the off-diagonal elements are non-negative; (3) all row
sums are non-positive.
The 2-tuple (α,D) is called a phase-type representative (PH
representative) of order m for the PH distribution. There are
four conditions given for fitting PH distribution [34,47,48]
based on the mean value and c2 given in Table 1.
Hu et al. [11] and Khattak et al. [31] have achieved a good
fitting effect for the passengers’ arrival interval from the train
as well as state-dependent service time of corridor facility by
using a PH distribution for any c2 . The four conditions show
that we can determine the PH representation for the passen-
gers’ arrival interval and service time based on λa,i , ca,i
2 ,μ
s,i
3.1 Passengers’ Arrival Process
The passengers’ arrival process in the MRT station is spec-
ified by passengers’ arrival rate λa and squared coefficient
of variation of arrival interval ca2 . During the planning and
(1)
design phase of the MRT station service facilities, the peak-
hour volume (q) and the peak-hour factor (ε) are usually
given. So we can calculate λa (ped/min) by using Eq. (3).
q
λa = (3)
60ε
where;
Passengers hourly volume
ε=
Peak rate of flow within hour
Performance assessment of the MRT station service facili-
ties in this study focuses on the peak-hour volume (q) (ped/h)
because it represents the most critical period for service facil-
ities operations. It has the highest capacity requirements.
However; it is not a constant value and can vary from day
to day and also season to season. Therefore, we convert the
passengers’ hourly volume to peak passenger arrival rate by
using peak-hour factor. Now if we are given peak-hour factor
(for the existing MRT stations), then ca2 can be calculated by
using Eq. (4):
e6.819ε (ε − 1)2
ca2 = . (4)
4ε − 1

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3.2 Service Process of Service Facilities
3.2.1 Service Time of Ticket Facilities
The passengers take some time to process the ticket at TVM
or TO. The ticket processing time is considered as the ser-
vice time of the ticket facilities. The passengers’ processing
times vary widely depending on the specific characteristics
of the TVM, TO and the fare structure of the metro system.
The processing time or mean service time of ticket facilities
represented by μs,i is the most important factor that affects
the performance of the overall ticket facilities in the queuing
network. In addition to that, there exists randomness in the
service time of the ticket facilities. Different ticket facilities
encounter randomness in service time in different ways. (1)
In case of TVM, the passengers who are familiar with the
operation of TVM can buy the ticket quickly which means
that the service time is shorter compared to the unfamiliar
passengers that take longer time. (2) Some MRT stations
usually have very high passenger flow volume every day that
results in longer queues for the TVM. (3) In case of TO,
service time depends on the expertise of the staff and charac-
teristics of passengers. Many passengers are unaware of the
ticket price and the route (Line Number) to their destinations,
and therefore they spend more time to buy the ticket. (4) In
case of Automatic Fare Gate (AFG), the passengers have two
short temporal stops: one stop is for swiping the IC e-card,
and the other stop is for crossing the fence. These two stops
are for short periods of time, but they still affect the speed
of the passengers. The average speed of passengers is equal
to the length of the AFG divided by time spent by passenger
passing through it. The time passengers spend passing the
fare gate depends on the age of passenger, i.e. older people
take more time to pass through the gate than younger people.
(5) It also depends on the proficiency of passenger operat-
ing the AFG. (6) Passengers with luggage also increase the
crossing time through the AFG.
Keeping all these cases into account, the randomness fac-
tor, i.e. squared coefficient of variation of service time cs,i 2
cannot be ignored in the performance assessment and is nec-
essary to be taken into account. The squared coefficient of
2 can be obtained by Eq. (5).
variation of service time cs,i
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
elevator stops at 1F and ends at the time when the elevator
comes back to 1F. Two major phases in the elevator operation
are loading/unloading and movement. The mean service time
μs is the round trip time of elevator that incorporates the time
taken by an elevator to complete one trip, from the main lobby
to the platform level, during the peak traffic. (For two-level
MRT stations). The mean service time between two levels
can be computed by using Eq. (6) given by [49].
 
Vmax H
TRT = 2 + + TB + TA + 4 (TMD + TOC )
a Vmax
(6)
where:
TRT Round trip time,
VMax Maximum uniform speed,
a Acceleration,
H Floor height,
TB Passengers boarding time,
TA Passengers alighting time,
TMD Elevator motor delay time,
TOC Elevator doors opening and closing time.
It should be noted that in this study, one-way passenger
down-peak traffic is considered; therefore, the passengers
only take elevator from level 1F to − 1F direction and not
from − 1F to 1F direction. The empty elevator moves from
− 1F to 1F when passengers get off the elevator at − 1F.
Moreover, the randomness factor in case of elevator facility
cannot be ignored. The factors that cause randomness are as
follows: (1) the boarding and alighting time of passengers
is not fixed. They take more time to board or alight the ele-
vator when they have heavy luggage. (2) The older people
take longer time to board or alight the elevator at the MRT
station compared to younger people. (3) Sometimes elevator
door opens or closes several times at level 1F or − 1F due to
impatience behaviour of passengers that increases the service
time of elevator.
3.3 PH Fitting of Arrival and Service Process for
Service Facility
As discussed earlier, the scope of this research is to consider

σ (μi − μ̄)/x uni-directional passengers’ flow in the service facilities. Nev-
cs2 = 2 = . (5)
μ μ2 ertheless, bi- and multi-directional passengers’ flow can also
be considered by changing some speed parameters. The two
3.2.2 Service Time of Elevator Facility parameters that describe arrival of passengers at the entrance
to the MRT station are λa and ca2 , whereas the other two
In this paper, we are concerned with the two-level (two floors parameters that describe the service process of the ith service
designated as 1F and − 1F) MRT station elevator facility. We facility are specified by μs,i and cs,i
2 . These input parameters

consider that passengers, after passing through the AFG, use are used to obtain the 2-tuple PH representatives as shown
the elevator from 1F to − 1F and move towards the platform. in Table 1. An example of fitting PH distribution to the pas-
As discussed earlier, the elevator service begins when the sengers’ arrival and service processes is shown below. After

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fitting PH distribution, the passengers’ arrival process to any
ith service facility can be described by sub-stochastic vector
αi and the sub-generator matrix Di as:
Ai ∼ PH(αi , Di )i = 1, 2, . . . , N .
Similarly, the service process of any ith service facility can
be described by the sub-stochastic vector βi and the sub-
generator matrix H i as:
Bi ∼ PH(βi , Hi )i = 1, 2, . . . , N .
Example: For fitting passengers’ arrival process, let we
have peak-hour volume q = 3600 ped/h and peak-hour factor
ε = 0.80. The passengers’ arrival rate λa is calculated by
using Eq. (3) which is equal to 1.25 ped/s. Similarly, ca2 value
can be calculated by using Eq. (4) which is equal to 4.25.
Since, ca2 > 1, by substituting λa , ca2 into the condition
given in Table 1, we can obtain the 2-tuple (α, D) of PH
representative, i.e.
5507
of the service facilities. The PH-based DES model involves
efficient random variates generation from the PH distribu-
tions. The first key ingredient of the PH-based DES model
is the generation of PH random variates by using 2-tuple
(phase-type representatives). Neuts [46] developed a ‘Count
Procedure’ for the generation of PH random variates. The
procedure relies on generating an Erlang-distributed sample
with degree f and a parameter ϕ. It involves drawing a sam-
ple from the Erlang distribution of length f j that requires
a single evaluation of logarithmic function. This evaluation
procedure counts the number of visits and then draws one
Erlang-distributed sample for each state.
⎛ ⎞
1 ⎝ ⎠
f
Erl( f , ϕ) = − ln Uj .
ϕ
j=1
Here ‘U ’ is the uniformly distributed random number [0, 1].
Let b j represent the row vector with 1 at position j. Select-
ing the initial or successor state need to draw an additional
 random number from the ‘U’. The PH-distributed random
− 2.23 variates generation pseudo-codes description in this research
α = (0.893, 0.106) , D = .
− 0.26 is as follows:

1) x ph := 0 , f j = 0, for j = 1, 2......n , Draw an α -distributed discrete sample for the initial state.

2) The chain in the state j ,

i. fj+ =1

ii. a b j (-diag 1/d jj ,0 D+I) -distributed discrete sample is drawn for the next state,

iii. in case the next state is an absorbing state then goes to 3 otherwise stay at 2 and repeat

for j=1, 2....n;

3) do x ph +=Erl(f j ,-d jj );
done

4) Return x ph .

4 PH-Based DES Model of Service Facilities 4.2 PH-Based DES Model Architecture

In this section, the PH-based DES model is presented. The
procedure for generating the PH-distributed random vari-
ates is described first which is then followed by PH-based
DES model architecture for service facilities network in the
SimEvents® . The different phases are explained below:
4.1 PH-Distributed Random Variates Generation
The PH distribution is used in this research for fitting pas-
sengers’ arrival rate as well as state-dependent service time
A PH-based state-dependent DES model of the MRT station
ticket facilities and elevator facility is built in SimEvents® in
this subsection, as shown in Fig. 5. In contrast to the
PH/PH (n)/C/C (PH-based) analytical queuing model [11],
the PH-based DES model eliminates the need to solve large
matrix equations to estimate the performance measures. The
PH-based DES model consists of interactions of several
SimEvents® block that represent the ticket facilities as well as
elevator facility and passengers flow through them. Each ser-
vice facility in the PH-based DES model is analogous to the

123
5508
PH/PH (n)/C/C analytical queuing system. The SimEvents®
software provides a DES platform and a component library
that consists of several important blocks for the modelling
architecture that are as follows:
• The Time-Based Entity Generation block that represents
the source of passengers
• The FIFO_Queue block represents the passenger queu-
ing space.
• The Single-Server block stores the entities (passengers)
for a certain period of time.
• The Start and Read Timers blocks report the time
associated with the passengers such as waiting time of
passengers in the facility.
• The Level-2 MATLAB® S-function blocks are used to
compute and update different parameters in the PH-based
DES model such as computation of PH random variates.
• The Constant blocks are used to input different constant
parameters values in the PH-based DES model such as
passenger’s arrival rate.
• The Display blocks show the necessary performance
measures of the service facilities (outputs) such as uti-
lization and mean waiting time.
• In addition to main blocks, there are two Gateway blocks
used in the PH-based DES model, i.e. Event to Timed
Signal blocks and Timed to Event Signal. These blocks are
used to convert event-based signal to time-based signal
and vice versa.
A PH-based DES model of the MRT station ticket facil-
ities and elevator facility consists of two major phases, i.e.
passengers’ generation phase and the service facilities ser-
vice phase that are discussed below:
4.3 Passengers’ Generation Phase
In our PH-based DES model, the passengers are first gener-
ated at the entrance of the ticket facilities in the main lobby
Fig. 5 SimEvents® Implication of the MRT station Service Facilities
123
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
of the MRT station as shown in Fig. 5, just after entry to
the MRT station or passing through the security screening
system. The two input parameters for the computation of
PH-distributed random variates are the sub-stochastic vector
(α) and the sub-generator matrix (D). These inputs can be
obtained by passengers’ arrival rate λa and squared coeffi-
cient of variation of arrival interval ca2 by using Eqs. (3) and
(4), respectively. The generation of PH random variates is
programmed in Level-2 MATLAB® S-function blocks (shown
by passengers_arrival) at passengers’ generation phase illus-
trated in Fig. 5.
4.4 Service Facilities Service Phase
The service facilities consist of ticket facilities and elevator
facility. As discussed earlier, the ticket service facilities are
the combination of TVM, TO and AFC. Each facility is rep-
resented by FIFO-Queue blocks and N-Server blocks. The
N-Server blocks represent ‘N ’ number of TVM, TO and AFC
facilities. Each ticket facility, i.e. TVM, TO and AFG are con-
sidered as PH/PH/c node of queuing network having infinite
capacity. Therefore, the capacity value of FIFO-queue block
at each facility is kept to infinite. When all the TVM and
TO are occupied, any new arriving passenger who intends
to buy their ticket will have to enter a waiting queue in the
FIFO-queue block. Once the N-Server blocks are clear, the
passengers are released from the FIFO-queue bocks to enter
into the N-Server blocks.
When the passengers enter the N-Servers block at TVM
or TO, they stay for a certain amount of time. The Level-2
MATLAB® S-function blocks at each node calculate the ser-
vice time of each ticket facility. The random service duration
is the value of the signal that serves as an input to the N-
Servers block. The N-Servers block read the random service
time from a signal that originates from Level-2 MATLAB® S-
function blocks which enable to vary the service time for each
passenger that arrives at the ticket facility. The two inputs
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516 5509

required for the generation of PH random variates in the ser- In this paper, the MRT station service facilities consisting of
vice phase is the mean service time of facility μs,i and the ticket facilities and elevator facility that form a queuing net-
squared coefficient of variation of service time cs,i 2 . Both work having a combination of series, splitting and merging
the N-Server blocks of TVM and TO facility, process up to topologies. We aim to determine the optimal configuration of
‘c’ number of passengers in parallel at a time. After buy- ticket facilities only. The elevator facility is not considered in
ing the tickets, the ‘OUT’ branch from the N-Server blocks the optimization as it is a single-server batch service queuing
of the TVM and TO route the passengers to the path com- system that does not requires optimal configuration.
biner block. The path combiner block merges the paths of The general problem statement for the optimal configura-
passenger and route towards the AFG. tion of ticket facilities is to find a set of design units (number
The queue length signals (#len) of the FIFO-queue block of ticket facilities) c = (c1 , c2 , . . . , cN ), i.e.
estimates the mean number of passengers as well as mean
waiting time of passengers in the queue. The three necessary
min c
performance measures including facility utilization ρ, mean
number of passengers in the queue E[Nq ], and mean waiting s.t. E[Nq ]i ≤ υ
time in the queue E[Wq ], are obtained by the Display block. E[Wq ]i ≤ ζ
In reality, the usage of elevator facility at MRT station is lower
when compared to other vertical transportation facilities such where, c belongs to D for discrete variables; and the set
as stairs and escalators. For this paper, we assume that one- D = {d1 , d2 , . . . , d N } may be different for each discrete
third of passengers that enter the MRT station use the elevator design variable ci . Here υ and ζ represent the tolerance val-
facility to reach the platform at − 1F. For this purpose, we use ues of the constraint function. According to the TCQSM,
Output switch block and route one-third of passengers’ flow the LOS of the ticket facilities is reflected by the passen-
towards the elevator facility while the remaining two-third gers processing time. The higher the processing time, the
that use other vertical transportation facilities are not taken more time the passengers will take in the queue and wait for
into consideration. their turn. It results in longer queue
 length as well. The per-
The main challenge in case of elevator facility is to formance measures
 E[N q ]i =  q ]1 , . . . , E[Nq ] N and
E[N
create a batch of passengers of a fixed size ‘K ’. The E[Wq ]i = E[Wq ]1 , . . . E[Wq ] N are estimated by running
SimEvents® softwareSingle_Server block by default does not the PH-based ES model of MRT station service facilities (see
permit the batch service. To implement the batch service Fig. 5). The PH-based SO method for the optimal configura-
condition in SimEvents® to serve ‘K ’ number of passengers tion of ticket facilities is summarized in Fig. 6.
simultaneously, we use the Output block to route the pas- In this research, the MATLAB® GA toolbox is used. The
sengers through separate lines and then an Entity Combiner default MATLAB® GA parameter settings are used for the
block to create a batch of passengers of a fixed size for the optimization except for a decrease in population size to 20
elevator service as shown in Fig. 5. The entities (passengers) and an adjusted termination criterion, i.e. stall generation to
combine in the form a batch and depart the Entity Combiner 10 and the tolerance function to 0.01. In case the weighted
block simultaneously. The Zero Service blocks between the average change in the fitness function over stall generations is
Output block and Entity Combiner block ensure simulta- less than 0.01, the algorithm will terminate. The GA param-
neous departure of entities after batch formation from the eters and their respective values are listed below. The details
Entity Combiner block. The Level-2 MATLAB® S-function and list of different parameter values as well as description
block (designated as Elevator_Service) in the elevator ser- regarding the algorithm can be studied in the MathWorkTM .
vice phase computes the PH random variates for the elevator
service process by using μs and cs2 . Similarly, the three nec-
essary performance measures including facility utilization ρ, Population
mean number of passengers in the queue E[Nq ], and mean Population size: 20
waiting time in the queue E [Wq ] are obtained by the Display Creation function: Uniform
Initial population: []
block. Initial score: []
Reproduction
Elite count: 2
5 Optimal Configuration: An Integrated Crossover fraction: 0.8
Mutation
PH-Based DES Model and GA Mutation probability: 0.01
Termination criteria
The proposed PH-based SO method blends both the PH- Function tolerance: 0.01
based DES and GA to work together concurrently and find the Stall generation: 10
Time limit: Inf
optimal configuration of ticket facilities as shown in Fig. 6.

123
5510
Because we have adapted the population size and the ter-
mination criteria for this research, there is a possibility that
changes in the parameter value may lead to better optimiza-
tion results. However, our aim in this research is to find the
optimal configuration by integrated PH-based DES model
and GA. Therefore, we keep the same parameter values for
all the experiments, and further experiments with different
parameter values are not undertaken in the scope of this
research. The optimization script is given below.
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
6 Computational Experiments
The computational experiments consist of three parts. First,
the PH-based DES model is verified for accuracy check by
the PH-based analytical model. Then the performance assess-
ment under different input values is carried out which is
followed by the optimal configuration of ticket facilities by
using PH-based SO method.
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
OPTIMIZATION PROGRAM
OBJECTIVE FUNCTION
(Minimum number of Ticket Facilies
GA as opmizaon approach
Outputs
PH-based DES Model run
DISCRETE-EVENT SIMULATION
Fig. 6 PH-based SO for the optimal configuration of ticket facilities
6.1 Validation of PH-Based DES Model of Service
Facilities
There are two ways to verify the accuracy of PH-based DES
model of service facilities that are discussed below.
• One way is to transform the PH-based DES model into the
exponential-based (M) DES model by setting the values
of ca2 and cs2 equal to 1 (as discussed earlier in Table 1) and
compare the results with existing analytical exponential-
based models.
• Another way is to compare the PH-based DES model
with existing analytical PH/PH/c model [50] and
PH/PHK /1/∞ model [51] for elevator facility.
To verify the accuracy of the proposed PH-based DES model
for service facilities consisting of a network of ticket facili-
ties and elevator at MRT station, the DES tests are performed.
For this purpose, the passengers’ arrival rate is taken as
λa = 20 ped/min with the squared coefficient of variation
of arrival interval ca2 as 15. The Output block at passengers’
generation phase is adjusted such that the λa = 10 ped/min
is the passengers’ arrival rate to TVM, 7 ped/min to the TO
and remaining passengers at the rate of 3 ped/min having IC
e-card go directly towards AFG. Similarly, the service rates
μs,i of 1.5, 1 and 20 ped/min are considered for the TVM,
TO and AFG, respectively. The values of ‘c’ for TVM, TO
and AFG are taken as 10, 10 and 4, respectively. The eleva-
tor capacity ‘K ’ is taken as 6 with the service time of 30 s
(0.5 min).
The values of passengers’ arrival rates and squared coef-
ficient of variation of arrival interval can be obtained from
Eqs. (3) and (4), respectively, according to the actual con-
5511
OBTIMIZATION SETTINGS
(Constraint Funcons)
Stopping Opmal
criteria configuraon
Input
Parameters
ditions at MRT stations. The three necessary performance
measures including facility utilization ‘ρ’ mean number of
passengers in the queue E[Nq ], and mean waiting time in
the queue E[Wq ] are computed. In order to compute 95%
confidence interval, 30 replications were performed with the
simulation time of 20,000 units. The mean values of 30
samples are calculated for different inputs from which the
sample standard deviations are computed. Table 2 shows
the performance measures results of proposed PH-based
DES model for the service facilities including ticket facil-
ities and elevator facility. The results are compared with the
analytical PH/PH/c/∞ queuing model for ticket facilities
and PH/PH K /1/∞ for the elevator facility. The compari-
son shows that the proposed PH-based DES model can be
used with good accuracy in the performance assessment of
MRT station service facilities. Moreover, the 95% confidence
interval approximations if sampling distribution of the mean
follows normal distribution are also shown in Table 2. It
should be noted that all the computational experiments are
carried out on a PC with 3.2 GHz of Intel Core i5-4700 365
CPU and 8 GB of RAM under a Windows operating system.
The average CPU time is also recorded for all the replicated
experiments.
6.2 Performance Assessment of Service Facilities
For the performance assessment of service facilities, the DES
experiments are divided into two different sets, i.e. SET 1
and SET 2. In each set, the input values are predetermined.
In SET 1, the passengers’ arrival rates is taken as 30 ped/min
with different values of squared coefficient of variation of
arrival interval ca2 , i.e. 1/30, 1, 5, 10 and 15. The different
values of ca2 capture the randomness in passengers’ arrival
123
5512
Table 2 Comparison of PH-based DES model and analytical model for the service facilities
Model Performance measures
ρ E[Nq ]
Ticket vending machine (TVM)
PH/PH/c/∞ analytical 0.668
PH-based DES (95% CI) 0.672 (0.669, 0.676)
Ticket offices (TO)
PH/PH/c/∞ analytical 0.704
PH-based DES (95% CI) 0.693 (0.678, 0.703)
Automatic fare gates (AFG)
PH/PH/c/∞ analytical 0.213
PH-based DES (95% CI) 0.231(0.218, 0.244)
Elevator facility
PH/PHK /1/∞ analytical 0.573
PH-based DES (95% CI) 0.577 (0.572, 0.584)
Average CPU time: 14 min, 13 s
rates to the service facilities. Similarly, the values of ‘c’ for
TVM, TO and AFG are taken as 5, 7 and 3 with the service
rates μs,i of 2.25, 1.50 and 15 ped/min, respectively. In SET
2, all the inputs value remains same. The only difference is
that the service rates of TVM, TO and AFG are increased to
3 ped, 2 ped and 20 ped/min, respectively. The value of ‘K ’ is
also increased to 8. Figures 7 and 8 present the performance
measures of service facilities including ticket facilities and
elevator facility for SET 1 and SET 2, respectively.
For SET 1, it has been observed that the increase in the
squared coefficient of variation of arrival interval results
in increasing the performance measure values. The squared
coefficient of variation is the randomness factor that has been
neglected by existing exponential-based model (ca2 = 1)
and deterministic-based model (ca2 = 1/30). These models
therefore underestimated the performance measure. More-
over, lower service rate of 1.5 ped/min of TO compared to
the higher 2 ped/min resulted in longer queue length as well
as longer waiting time even though there are 7 TO and 5
TVM. Due to high processing rate of AFG (time for passen-
gers to pass through the gate), the queue length and waiting
time is very small. Therefore, we would need a lower number
of AFG in MRT stations. The elevator facility also has low
queue length and waiting time of passenger because of its
low usage compared to other vertical transportation means
as well. The facility utilization remains the same for all the
squared coefficient of variation of arrival interval and is not
affected by the randomness of passengers’ arrival flow. The
‘rate of increase’ in the values of mean number of passengers
and mean waiting time of passengers is high as the squared
coefficient of variation of arrival interval increases.
Moreover, for SET 2, an increase in the service rate
reduces the processing time and reduces the queue length and
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
E[Wq ] (s)
6.225 36.536
6.291(6.245, 6.306) 37.656 (37.385, 37.925)
9.362 138.122
9.463 (9.393, 9.529) 138.010 (137.507, 138.69)
0.004 3.003
0.011 (0.00, 0.013) 3.067 (3.010, 3.142)
2.014 17.661
2.138 (2.093, 2.183) 18.266 (18.154,18.97)
waiting time values, even for higher squared coefficient of
variation of arrival interval as shown in Fig. 8. More passen-
gers leave the system in less time and leave fewer passengers
in the queue as well as shorter waiting times for the passen-
gers to stand in the queue for buying the ticket. In the next
section, the optimal configuration of ticket facilities is deter-
mined. It has also been observed that because of the higher
service rate the AFG gives low values of waiting time and
queue length.
6.3 Optimal Configuration of Ticket Facilities
In this research, the optimal configuration of MRT station
ticket facilities are obtained by the proposed PH-based SO
method using PH-based DES models and GA. The results are
compared to the existing exponential-based (M/M/c/∞)
and deterministic-based (D/D/c/∞) methods. In existing
design codes and manuals [1,2], the service facilities designs
are based on the fixed-length distribution. It means that
the design procedure uses fixed passengers’ arrival rate
and a fixed service time of service facility which is sim-
ilar to analytical queuing model with arrival and service
processes based on deterministic distribution. The squared
coefficient of variation equal to 1/30 (0.03) in these mod-
els and therefore, they neglect the randomness factor. Thus,
the D/D/c/∞ queuing model represents the analysis and
design procedure of codes and manuals (TCRP-100 Report)
for the ticket facilities.
The SO experiments are conducted to determine the opti-
mal configuration (optimal number) ‘c’ of ticket for which
the required input parameters such as passengers’ arrival
rate, squared coefficient of variation of the arrival interval
and service rate of the ticket facilities are predetermined The
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516 5513

70 7
ca2 = 1/30 ca2 =1/30
60 2 6
ca = 1 ca2 = 1
50 ca2 = 5 5 ca2 = 5

E[Wq] (min)
2
ca = 10 ca2 = 10
40 4
E[Nq]

2
ca = 15 ca2 = 15
30 3

20 2

10 1

0 0
TVM TO AFG Elevator TVM TO AFG Elevator
Facility Facility
1

0.8

μ = 2.25ped/min
0.6 λ c=5
ca2 μ = 15ped/min μ = 2ped/min
ρ

c=3 K=6
0.4
μ = 1.5ped/min
c=7
0.2

0
TVM TO AFG Elevator
Facility

Fig. 7 Performance assessment of service facilities for SET 1 inputs

optimal configuration by using simulation-based optimiza- 7 Conclusion

tion approach for the TVM and the TO are done by keeping
the E[Wq ] below 20 min (120) s because of the patience limit
of passengers. This limit has also been used by [38]. In addi-
tion to that, the queue length E[Nq ] of TVM and TO is kept
below 20. The maximum queue length limit of 20 passengers
has been used by [52]. Moreover, for the AFG, it is required
that the time passengers get through the AFG should be less
than 5 s (0.084 min). The optimal configuration of ticket facil-
ities including TVM, TO and AFG are shown in Table 3.
It has been observed that the number of ticket facili-
ties increases with increase in squared coefficient of vari-
ation of arrival interval. It is because of the fact that
PH-based DES model accounts for randomness of passen-
gers’ arrival rate while the existing models M/M/c/∞and
D/D/c/∞neglects the randomness factor. In addition to
that, when the passengers’ arrival rate increase, then large
number of ticket facilities are required. Moreover, it has also
been observed that when processing time is high then the
queue builds up. In order to keep the E[Nq ] and E[Wq ] within
the limits, more ticket facilities are required.
This research proposes a PH-based discrete-event simula-
tion (DES) as well integrated simulation-based optimization
approach based on phase-type (PH) distribution and GA for
the analysis and optimal configuration of MRT station service
facilities. The proposed approach overcomes the shortcom-
ings in the existing design models, design codes and manuals
by fully considering the randomness in the DES model of
the service facilities. These design approaches also consider
the requirement on mean waiting time and mean number of
passengers in the ticket facilities during the optimal design
of facilities. The MRT station service facilities are trans-
lated into a queuing network system with the passengers’
arrival and service processes based on the PH distribution.
The PH-based DES model is developed in the SimEvents®
software, and the comparisons are made with the analytical
models based on the PH distribution to verify its accuracy.
The results show that PH-based DES models have achieved
clear consistency with the analytical models. The perfor-
mance assessment by PH-based DES model and optimal

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5514 Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516

6
ca 2 =1/30 ca 2 =1/30
0.6
ca 2 =1 ca 2 =1
5
ca 2 = 5 ca 2 =5
0.5
ca 2 =10 ca 2 =10
4 ca 2 = 15 ca 2 =15

E[Wq] (mins)
0.4
E[Nq]

3
0.3

2
0.2

1 0.1

0 0
TVM TO AFG Elevator TVM TO AFG Elevator
Facility Facility

0.8

0.7

0.6
μ = 3ped/min
0.5 λ c=5
2
0.4
ca μ =20 ped/min μ = 2ped/min
ρ

c=3 K=8
0.3 μ = 2ped/min
c=7
0.2

0.1

0
TVM TO AFG Elevator
Facility

Fig. 8 Performance assessment of service facilities for SET 2 inputs

Table 3 Optimal configuration of the ticket facilities

(TVM) λa,1 = 10 ped/min, μs,1 = 1.5ca2 = 15 λa,1 = 12 ped/min, μs,1 = 1.5ca2 = 30 λa,1 = 10 ped/min, μs,1 = 1.5ca2 = 50

PH-based SO 8 9 11
M/M/c 6 6 6
D/D/c 6 6 6

(TO) λa,2 = 12 ped/min, μs,2 = 1ca2 = 15 λa,2 = 12 ped/min, μs,2 = 1ca2 = 30 λa,2 = 12 ped/min, μs,2 = 1.5ca2 = 50

PH-based SO 15 17 18
M/M/c 12 12 12
D/D/c 11 11 11

(AFG) μs,3 = 20 ped/ min μs,3 = 15 ped/ min μs,3 = 15 ped/ min

PH-based SO 4 6 6
M/M/c 4 5 5
D/D/c 4 5 5

configuration by PH-based SO method indicated some inter- measure values. The fluctuation factor ca2 equal to 1
esting facts: means that the fluctuation is not considered or very small
(1/30) indicates that the fluctuation is negligible.
• In case of PH-based DES model, increasesin the  squared
• The existing model (based on exponential distribution
coefficient of variation of arrival interval ca2 results in
ca2 = 1), as well as design codes (based on deterministic
increasing the performance measure values.
distribution ca2 = 1/30) underestimate the performance

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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (2018) 43:5499–5516
 
• The squared coefficient of variation ca2 of arrival inter-
val is the randomness factor considered by PH-based
model and therefore it cannot be neglected during design
process.
• With increase in number of service facilities, the mean
number of passengers and mean waiting time of passen-
gers in queue decreased.
• The numerical experiments of PH-based SO method
reveals that the number of ticket facilities increases with
increase in the squared coefficient of variation and pas-
sengers’ arrival rate.
• The PH-based SO method resulted in higher number of
ticket facilities compared to the existing design models.
• The increase in service time of facilities also caused
increase in number of ticket facilities.
This proposed simulation-based optimization approach of
integrating PH-based DES and GA can help the planners and
designers of the MRT stations to make intelligent decisions
regarding the MRT station service facilities design.
Acknowledgements We would like to express our sincere acknowl-
edgement to National Natural Science Foundation of China (Serial
Nos. 51578465 and 71402149), Basic Research Project of Sichuan
Province, the Chinese government for the funding of doctoral program
at Southwest Jiaotong University and the colleagues of National United
Engineering Laboratory of Integrated and Intelligent Transportation at
Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu for their support and valuable
advices.
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