New scheduling approach for freight and passenger inter-city trains considering blocking using queuing theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

School of Industrial Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

We aim to plan better scheduling for movement of shuttle trains on the single-line route of inter-city railway network to decrease the delays due to the trains blocking in successive crowded stations. A MINLP model is examined to increase capacity efficiency of the stations using the queuing theory considering blocking. We propose an optimal schedule for moving trains which minimizes the blocking probability to raise the profit gained on a two-way railway. The results show that we have achieved the best scheduling with lowest delays considering the constraints of the track number inside stations. Queuing models are applicable because the trains’ departure scheduling can be evaluated with the aid of the performance criteria obtained by the queuing model. To validate the model, an optimal schedule is proposed for a real case-study in Iran. Finally, the benefits of the model and sensitivity analysis are conducted using GAMS v24.9.1, with BARON solver.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Abuobidalla, O., Chen, M., & Chauhan, S. (2019). A matheuristic method for planning railway freight transportation with hazardous materials. Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management. Vol. 10, pp. 46-61
Andersson, E. V., Peterson, A., & Krasemann, J. T. (2015). Reduced railway traffic delays using a MILP approach to increase Robustness in Critical Points. Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 110-127.
Assad, A. (1980). Models for rail transportation. Transportation Research Part A. Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 205–220.
Azadi Moghaddam Arani, A., Jolai, F., & Nasiri, M. M. (2019). A multi-commodity network flow model for railway capacity optimization in case of line blockage. International Journal of Rail Transportation, 1-24.
Cacchiani, V., Furini, F., & Kidd, M. P. (2016). Approaches to a real-world train timetabling problem in a railway node. Omega, Vol. 58, pp. 97-110. Omega: 58, 97-110.
Chen, S., Ho, T., & Mao, B. (2013). Maintenance schedule optimisation for a railway power supply system. International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 51, No. 16, pp. 4896-4910.
Chou, J. S., Kim, C., Tsai, P. Y., Yeh, C. P., & Son, H. (2017). Longitudinal assessment of high-speed rail service delivery, satisfaction and operations: A study of Taiwan and Korea systems. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp. 2413-2428.
Corman, F., D’Ariano, A., Marra, A. D., Pacciarelli, D., & Samà, M. (2017). Integrating train scheduling and delay management in real-time railway traffic control. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 105, pp. 213-239.
Fan, K., Zhai, Y., Li, X., & Wang, M. (2018). Review and classification of hybrid shop scheduling. Production Engineering, 12(5), 597-609.
Ferro, R., Ordóñez, R. E. C., & Anholon, R. (2017). Analysis of the integration between operations management manufacturing tools with discrete event simulation. Production Engineering, 11(4-5), 467-476.
Hassannayebi, E., Zegordi, S. H., Amin-Naseri, M. R., & Yaghini, M. (2017). Train timetabling at rapid rail transit lines: a robust multi-objective stochastic programming approach. Operational Research, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 435-477.
Herrigel, S., Laumanns, M., Szabo, J., & Weidmann, U. (2018). Periodic railway timetabling with sequential decomposition in the PESP model. Journal of rail transport planning & management, 8(3-4), 167-183.
Jovanovic, D., Harker, P.T. (1991). Tactical scheduling of rail operations: the SCAN I system. Transportation Science. Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 46–64.
Kabasakal, A., Kutlar, A., & Sarikaya, M. (2015). Efficiency determinations of the worldwide railway companies via DEA and contributions of the outputs to the efficiency and TFP by panel regression. Central European Journal of Operations Research, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 69-88.
Liu, L., & Dessouky, M. (2019). Stochastic passenger train timetabling using a branch and bound approach. Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol. 127, pp. 1223-1240.
Meirich, C., Nießen, N. (2016). Calculating the maximal number of additional freight trains in a railway Network. Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management, Vol. 6, pp. 200-217.
Motono, I., Furuichi, M., Ninomiya, T., Suzuki, S., & Fuse, M. (2016). Insightful observations on trailer queues at landside container terminal gates: What generates congestion at the gates?. Research in transportation business & management, 19, 118-131.
Peng, Q., Zhao, J., & Wen, C. (2013). A rolling horizon-based decomposition algorithm for the railway network train timetabling problem. International Journal of Rail Transportation, 1(3), 129-160.
Perros, H., (1994), Queuing Networks with Blocking, Oxford University Press, New York.
Qi, H., Wang, D., Chen, P., & Bie, Y. (2013). A link traffic model by incorporating both merits of vertical and Horizontal Queue Concept. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 1117-1129.
Qi, J., Yang, L., Gao, Y., Li, S., & Gao, Z. (2016). Integrated multi-track station layout design and train scheduling models on railway corridors. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies. Vol. 69, pp. 91–119.
Quaglietta, E. (2014). A simulation-based approach for the optimal design of signalling block layout in railway networks. Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory, Vol. 46, pp. 4-24.
Şahin, İ. (2017). Markov chain model for delay distribution in train schedules: Assessing the effectiveness of time allowances. Journal of rail transport planning & management, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 101-113.
Samà, M., Corman, F., & Pacciarelli, D. (2017). A variable neighbourhood search for fast train scheduling and routing during disturbed railway traffic situations. Computers & Operations Research, Vol. 78, pp. 480-499.
Sameni, M. K., Preston, J., & Sameni, M. K. (2016). Evaluating efficiency of passenger railway stations: A DEA approach. Research in transportation business & management, 20, 33-38.
Scardua L.A., Silvad M.C. (1997). Train Dispatching using Expert system, PROCEEDING OF 5’Th IASTED International conf. on Applied Informatics.
Watanabe, S., & Koseki, T. (2015). Energy-saving train scheduling diagram for automatically operated electric railway. Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management, 5(3), 183-193.
Wiegmans, B., Champagne-Gelinas, A., Duchesne, S., Slack, B., & Witte, P. (2018). Rail and road freight transport network efficiency of Canada, member states of the EU, and the USA. Research in Transportation Business & Management, Vol. 28, pp. 54-65.
Xu, P., Corman, F., & Peng, Q. (2016). Analyzing railway disruptions and their impact on delayed traffic in Chinese high-speed railway. IFAC-PapersOnLine, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 84-89.
Xu, X., Li, K., & Yang, L. (2015). Scheduling heterogeneous train traffic on double tracks with efficient dispatching rules. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 78, pp. 364-384.
Xu, X., Li, K., & Lu, X. (2019). Simultaneous locomotive assignment and train scheduling on a single-track railway line: A simulation-based optimization approach. Computers & Industrial Engineering. Vol. 127, pp. 1336-1351.
Xu, X. Y., Liu, J., Li, H. Y., & Hu, J. Q. (2014). Analysis of subway station capacity with the use of queueing theory. Transportation research part C: emerging technologies, Vol. 38, pp. 28-43.
Xu, W., Zhao, P., & Ning, L. (2018). Last train delay management in urban rail transit network: Bi-objective MIP model and genetic algorithm. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 1436–1445.
Yaghini, M., Momeni, M., Sarmadi, M., Seyedabadi, M., & Khoshraftar, M. M. (2015). A fuzzy railroad blocking model with genetic algorithm solution approach for Iranian railways. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 39(20), 6114-6125.
Yang, L., Qi, J., Li, S., & Gao, Y. (2016). Collaborative optimization for train scheduling and train stop planning on high-speed railways. Omega, Vol. 64, pp. 57-76.
Yang, H., Li, X., & Yang, X. (2018). Mean-variance model for optimization of the timetable in urban rail transit systems. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, Val. 232. No. 4, pp. 1005-1020.  
Ye, H., & Liu, R. (2016). A multiphase optimal control method for multi-train control and scheduling on railway lines. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Vol. 93, pp. 377-393.
Zhao, W., Martin, U., Cui, Y., & Liang, J. (2017). Operational risk analysis of block sections in the railway network. Journal of rail transport planning & management, 7(4), 245-262.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 10 July 2020
  • Revise Date: 23 August 2020
  • Accept Date: 01 September 2020

Share

How to cite

Statistics