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A Combined Constraint-Based Search Method for Single-Track Railway Scheduling Problem

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Progress in Artificial Intelligence (EPIA 2001)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 2258))

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Abstract

In this paper we present a three-phase structure algorithm devised within a constraint programming paradigm to solve real-life single-track railway scheduling instances of problems. The combination of a hill-climbing, easing the process of finding iteratively improved solutions, and a branch-and-bound strategies allows us to solve 21 real-life problems in a reasonable time, 19 of them to optimality.

In addition, this paper discusses a group of practical constraints, incorporated into the software, that arise in real-life problems to which little attention has hitherto been paid. Results comparing the gain on using this approach on large instances problems are also presented.

The author is a PhD student funded by CAPES under Grant BEX-1162/96-9.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, Leeds, UK

    Elias Oliveira

  2. School of Computing & Mathematics, University of Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, Huddersfield, UK

    Barbara M. Smith

Authors
  1. Elias Oliveira
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  2. Barbara M. Smith
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics LIACC, Laboratório de Inteligência Artificial e Ciência de Computadores, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 823, 4150-180, Porto, Portugal

    Pavel Brazdil  & Alípio Jorge  & 

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Oliveira, E., Smith, B.M. (2001). A Combined Constraint-Based Search Method for Single-Track Railway Scheduling Problem. In: Brazdil, P., Jorge, A. (eds) Progress in Artificial Intelligence. EPIA 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2258. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45329-6_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45329-6_36

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43030-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45329-1

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