A rail-transit people-mover headway comparison

For many years, General Railway Signal Company has supplied control systems for conventional rail transit. Headways for these systems range from minutes or hours down to as low as 75 s. In the last few years, the company has supplied control systems for people-mover applications in which minimum headways of 10-20 s have been achieved. There are many factors working together to permit achievement of this large reduction in headway. These factors are identified and evaluated for their impact on capacity. The fundamentals underlying the disparity in headway are discussed from the viewpoint of potential for increased capacity of rail transit.