Abstract
Train schedule design is a critical element of the overall railroad operating plan design problem. It determines the utilization of the network, the train driver or crew requirements, the service received by customers, impacts locomotive requirements, and is a large determinant of network efficiency. This chapter focuses on the role of the train schedules, and describes the data elements making up a train schedule, the process of designing the train schedules, and managing these schedules on a real-time basis. This chapter provides the definitions for the following core OR train design problems:
-
Train routing: how best to generate the routes of each train such that all traffic will be moved, and total train miles will be minimized. Minimizing total train miles also tends to maximize train size subject to a requirement that minimum train frequencies be observed.
-
Block-to-train assignments: which blocks (groups of railcars) will be placed on each train, minimizing overall train complexity and the need to swap blocks en-route from one train to another.
-
Train timing and connections: setting the timing of each train such that the overall transit times for all shipments will be minimized, taking into account the connections of railcars from one train to another, and the associated minimum processing times for such connections. Timing must also take into account the effective numbers of trains per hour that can be processed at each yard and can travel over each line segment.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Assad AA (1980a) Modelling of rail networks: toward a routing/makeup model. Transport Res Part B 14(1–2):101–114
Assad AA (1980b) Models for rail transportation. Transport Res 14A:205–220
Carpara A, Fischetti M, Toth P (2002) Modeling and solving the train timetabling problem. Oper Res 50:851–861
Crainic TG, Rousseau JM (1986) Multicommodity, multimode freight transportation: a general modeling and algorithmic framework for the service network design problem. Transport Res 208:225–242
Dorfman M, Medanic J (2004) Scheduling trains on a railway network using a discrete event model of railway traffic. Transport Res B 38:81–98
Gorman MF (1998a) The freight railroad operating plan problem. Ann Oper Res 78:51–69
Gorman MF (1998b) An operating plan model improves service design at santa fe railway. Interfaces 28(4):1–12
Haghani AE (1987) Rail freight transportation: a review of recent optimization models for train routing and empty car distribution. J Adv Transport 21:147–172
Haghani AE (1989) Formulation and solution of a combined train routing and makeup, and empty car distribution model. Transport Res 23B:433–452
Huntley CL, Brown DE, Sappington DE, Markowicz BP (1995) Freight routing and scheduling at CSX transportation. Interfaces 25(3):58–71
Ireland P, Case R, Fallis J, Van Dyke C, Kuehn J, Meketon M (2004) The Canadian pacific railway transforms operations by using models to develop its operating plans. Interfaces 34(1):5–14
Jha KC, Ahuja RK, Sahin G (2008) New approaches for solving the block-to-train assignment problem. Networks 51:48–62
Keaton MH (1989) Designing optimal railroad operating plans: Lagrangian relaxation and heuristic approaches. Transport Res 23B:415–431
Keaton MH (1992) Designing optimal railroad operating plans: a dual adjustment method for implementing Lagrangian relaxation. Transport Sci 26:262–279
Kraft ER (2000) Implementation strategies for railroad dynamic freight car scheduling. J Transport Res Forum 39(3):119–137, jointly with Transportation Quarterly
Kraft ER (1998) A reservations-based railway network operations management system, Ph. D. Dissertation, Department of Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, UMI Order # 9829930
Newman AM, Yano Candace A (2000) Direct and indirect trains and containers in an intermodal setting. Transport Sci 34:256–270
Newman AM, Yano Candice A (2001) Scheduling trains and containers with due dates and dynamic arrivals. Transport Sci 35:181–191
Railroad Applications Section (2012) 2011 RAS Problem Solving Competition, Train Design Optimization, INFORMS. https://www.informs.org/Community/RAS/Problem-Repository
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Consortia
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Van Dyke, C., Meketon, M., Problem Solving Competition Committee. (2015). Train Scheduling. In: Patty, B. (eds) Handbook of Operations Research Applications at Railroads. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 222. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7571-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7571-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7570-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7571-3
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)