Keywords: energy consumption, energy-efficient operation, ecodriving, regenerative braking, train simulation, railway operation, Valencia metro network.

Taking into account the Valencia metro network, around eighty percent of the length is operated manually by human drivers, according to the speed restrictions they receive from track signals and signs. Under this particular operation mode and considering that projects involving energy savings have an increasing importance, the optimisation of the net energy consumption is a difficult, but highly desirable, problem to solve.

The main objective of this work is to minimize net energy consumption. First, a measurement campaign has been carried out for the trains in operation on the metro of Valencia. Then, a computer model in Matlab code has been developed, taking into account the network characteristics, energy consumption, running times and the energy recovered from regenerative brake, comparing the results with the energy measurements in order to validate the accuracy of the model. Finally, the model has been used to minimize net energy consumption considering trains with real conditions based on the reference timetable and speed profile.

The paper concludes that the energy consumption in Valencia metro network could be reduced by approximately 15-20% through the implementation of energy efficient driving strategies.

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