Railway service terminals are the places of a railway network usually equipped with costly technology based

on highly complicated technological procedures demanding a high degree of coordination and control skills. Design

of these systems and the organization of their operation should facilitate reaching to the required capacity together

with high quality of service processes as well as minimal costs of resources. Due to the complexity of such systems, a

simulation model seems to be the only suitable tool for performing investigations under realistic conditions. The paper

focuses on the possible utilization of simulation methods to support the design and optimisation of infrastructure,

operation, and process control algorithms in railway terminals. The paper also deals with the most important

properties and possibilities offered by the simulation tool Villon and comments on the experience gained during its

utilization. The tool supports tactical (mid-term) and strategic (long-term) planning usually related to infrastructural

or operational proposals which are supposed to guarantee the optimal (or at least effective) behaviour of the modelled

terminal.