Optimization of Line Planning by Integrating Ticket Pricing and Seat Allocation Decisions for High-Speed Railway

In the transportation organization optimization of high-speed railway (HSR), optimizations such as line planning, ticket pricing, and seat allocation are generally studied separately. However, in reality, when passengers choose trains, they need to consider multiple factors such as train routes, stop plans, seat prices, seat availability, and departure times. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an integrated optimization method to simultaneously make decisions regarding these multiple factors. This study constructs a nonlinear optimization model of line planning integrating differentiated pricing and seat allocation decisions for HSR under elastic demand. To efficiently solve the model, an improved heuristic algorithm based on the simulated annealing framework combined with a linear passenger flow allocation method is proposed. Finally, case analysis proves that the improved algorithm can effectively solve the model under the input conditions of an actual Y-shaped HSR network composed of 13 stations, with a potential for a 106.54% improvement from the initial solution to the final solution. The uniqueness of our study lies in the joint optimization of three critical HSR operations, which has not been comprehensively explored in prior studies and is of great significance for improving the level of HSR train operations and passenger services.