Defining economic and environmental feasibility thresholds in the case of rail signalling systems based on satellite technology

A rail system represents a useful tool for reducing flows (cars and trucks) on a road system in high density contexts (such as urban and metropolitan areas) with a view to abating greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, since rail passengers maximise their own utility, variations in mobility choices can be induced only by significantly improving the level-of-service of public transport. By defining feasibility thresholds, our proposal is to analyse the economic and environmental feasibility of a new signalling system which would increase service frequencies of a rail system, thereby reducing passenger waiting times. This approach was applied to a regional rail line in southern Italy to show the usefulness of the proposed methodology.