•Effects of transportation infrastructure on house prices and rents are studied.•Hedonic price models and spatial econometrics models are specied.•Several models are estimated and compared using data ...from Athens, Greece.•Proximity to transport infrastructure may have positive or negative effects.•The obtained results are consistent with expectations and the literature.
The interaction between land use and transportation infrastructure is a topic that has been extensively researched and continues to be of interest as new underlying economic, infrastructure and environmental conditions emerge. In this research, the direct and indirect effects of transportation infrastructure and policies on house prices and rents are studied. Since real estate transaction data are not available, a web-scraping tool was developed to parse house prices and attributes from publicly available resources. Econometric models of two categories were then estimated: (1) hedonic price models, based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and (2) spatial econometric models, such as the spatial regression model (SAR), spatial error (SEM), Durbin (SDM) and autocorrelation (SAC) model and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), which are increasingly used by econometricians in order to capture the effect of the – usually unobserved – spatial factors on house valuation.
The results of this research indicate that proximity to transportation infrastructure has a direct impact on house and apartment purchase prices and rents, which is either positive or negative depending on the type of the transportation system. Metro, tram, suburban railway and bus stations affect the prices positively, while ISAP (the old urban railway of Attica) and national rail stations, airports and ports, have a negative effect, due to a number of externalities associated with them, such as noise.
The obtained results are consistent with expectations and the literature. While these results cannot be assumed directly transferable to other locations and areas, they could be cautiously used as indications for planning applications (where dedicated models have not been developed).
This paper presents a simulation of the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) model usage in evaluation and selection of modernization projects of Serbian Railways. Performance review of the selected ...projects is conducted in regards to the strategic goals of the company, which have been established during the process of strategic planning. The project selection model is methodologically set up as a two-step selection model. The number of portfolio projects is narrowed down by ranking their importance in regards to the success of the modernization program (benefits, risks, and resources), which is followed by the ranking of the projects on the basis of their contribution to the realization of previously chosen liquidity and rentability goals, which are always a challenge when it comes to railway companies. This selection procedure is simulated by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a mathematical model of linear programming, embedded in the software package “Expert Choice”. The simulation results show that, in this way, it is possible to achieve a considerable drop in the amount of necessary financial resources for the realization of modernization projects, which is also the main contribution of this paper. This proves the efficiency of the PPM concept application as a modern model of strategic management. The showcased model of project portfolio selection can find a significant usage among the current processes of railways restructuring, especially in financing of the projects of public–private partnerships.
Strategic decision making problems in the public policy domain typically involve the comparison of competing options by different stakeholders. This paper considers a real case study dealing with ...potential actions to be ranked for the regeneration of disused railways in Italy. The study involves multiple conflicting criteria such as an expected duration of construction works, costs, number of potential users, and new green areas. Within this context, we demonstrate that Post Factum Analysis (PFA) coupled with Decision Aiding supports the development of robust recommendations. The role of PFA is to highlight how the actions' performances need to be modified so that the recommendation is changed in a desired way. In particular, it highlights the minimal improvements that would warrant the feasibility of a currently impossible outcome (e.g., achieving a better position in the ranking) or the maximal deteriorations that alternatives can afford to maintain a target result (e.g., not losing their advantage over some other options). The use of a focus group with both experts and participants in the decision making process provided insights on how PFA can support: (i) the creation of arguments in favour or against the respective options under analysis, (ii) understanding of the results' sensitivity with respect to possible changes in the performances assigned to actions on different criteria, (iii) a better informed discussion about the results among the participants in the process, and (iv) the development of new/better alternatives.
•We use Post Factum Analysis (PFA) for dealing with territorial transformations.•We highlight the impact of performance changes on the recommended decision.•New methodological developments make PFA more usable for real-world problems.•Results show that PFA can support the development of robust recommendation.•A focus group provides insights on the advantages of the proposed approach.
Catenary icing seriously affects the safety and reliability of the traction power supply systems of electric railways. To prevent icing damage without interrupting normal train traffic, an online ...anti-icing technique using the Joule-effect is presented. In this scheme, anti-icing current flows are adjusted over the entire catenary in accordance with not only environmental parameters, but also traction network voltage requirements. Determination of the requisite anti-icing current is based on a circuit analysis of a direct feeding system. The viability of the technique for a direct feeding system is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results in terms of both its thermal and electrical aspects. It is shown that the anti-icing system does not affect line protection operation under normal operational and various fault conditions, and requires no adjustment of the settings of the protective relays.
Train movement dynamics are usually modelled by means of Newton’s second law. The resulting dynamic equation can be very precise if the parameters that it depends on are determined accurately. ...However, these parameters may vary in time and show wide variations, making the calibration task nontrivial and jeopardizing the performance of a broad variety of applications in the railway industry: from timetable planning and railway traffic simulation to Driver Advisory Systems and Automatic Train Operation. In this article, the online train motion model calibration problem is addressed with a special focus on energy-efficient on-board applications. To this end, location and speed measurements are assumed to be available for a train running under normal operation conditions. A well-known real-time parameter estimation algorithm, the Unscented Kalman Filter, is combined with a driving regime calculator and a post-processing module in order to obtain bounds and statistics of parameters such as the maximum applied tractive effort and power, the applied brake rates, the cruise speed and the length of the final coasting and braking. The proposed framework is tested in a case study with real data from trains operating on the Eindhoven-’s-Hertogenbosch corridor in the Netherlands. Results obtained show that UKF is able to track the speed and location measurements and to estimate the parameters that model the running resistance in the dynamic equation. The proposed driving regime and the post-processing modules can determine the current regime accurately and give a deeper insight into the variations of the driving style, respectively.
•A real-time parameter estimator for energy-efficient on-board railway applications.•An Unscented Kalman Filter is used to determine the train motion model parameters.•A driving regime identifier determines in real time the current driving regime.•We study the train motion model parameter and driving variability.•This research opens a path towards implementing train-tailored real-time applications.
ABSTRACT
International technical standardization has always been shaped by the externalization of the domestic standard systems of the most technologically advanced countries. China's growing ...technological footprint is no exception, and it has the potential to significantly reshape international technical standard setting. In contrast particularly to European standardization, which is realized through coordinated private self‐regulation, China has adopted a state‐centric approach. Based on the international and comparative political economy literature on China's global externalization, and through research on technical standardization, this article investigates 5G standard setting within formal international standard‐developing organizations and de facto standardization of railways within the Belt and Road Initiative. By triangulating data from interviews, policy documents and other primary and secondary sources, the article systematically analyses China's standardization practices, which also affords insight into the implications for international standardization.
•We examine the economic effects of the first tariff revision in the Brazilian rail freight sector.•A dynamic recursive CGE framework with forms of market imperfection is applied.•Costs and benefits ...of the policy were tested in the non-competitive and quasi-competitive regime.•The economy, foreign trade and the production chains in rail-intensive and export sectors were expanded.•Output, investments and expected rate of return in the rail freight sector were harmed.
After fifteen years of railway concessions in Brazil, the rail freight sector became responsible for over 26% of the total transported volume in the country, an increase of 20% during this period. This Brazilian experience led a recovery in productivity and investment levels, with an improvement in service quality and modernization of the sector. Nevertheless, the rail price control mechanisms were almost unrestricted, allowing the concessionaires keep prices at very high levels. Just in 2012, it was held the first revision of price cap regulation of the sector. In this paper, we analyze the long-turn economic impacts of the rail freight sector tariff review policy in Brazil through the use of a dynamic general equilibrium model. The model incorporates some forms of market imperfections within its theoretical structure. Regardless the assumptions attributed to productive system, the main findings suggest that tariff policies promote positive effects on GDP growth, exports, and investments, as well as on other sectors, such as those most intensive in freight railways. However, the projections seem to confirm an onus on rail freight sector, with fall on its supply, return rate and private investment.
•Overtaking constraints based on the periodic event scheduling problem are proposed.•Train regularity and non-collision constraints in the model are improved.•The ability of our model in railway ...capacity analysis is presented.•Trade-off between capacity and operating rules is quantified investigated.•An iterative approximation method is proposed to reduce the computational time.
Compared with most optimization methods for capacity evaluation, integrating capacity analysis with timetabling can reveal the types of train line plans and operating rules that have a positive influence on improving capacity utilization as well as yielding more accurate analyses. For most capacity analyses and cyclic timetabling methods, the cycle time is a constant (e.g., one or two hours). In this paper, we propose a minimum cycle time calculation (MCTC) model based on the periodic event scheduling problem (PESP) for a given train line plan, which is promising for macroscopic train timetabling and capacity analysis. In accordance with train operating rules, a non-collision constraint and a series of flexible overtaking constraints (FOCs) are constructed based on variations of the original binary variables in the PESP. Because of the complexity of the PESP, an iterative approximation (IA) method for integration with the CPLEX solver is proposed. Finally, two hypothetical cases are considered to analyze railway capacity, and several influencing factors are studied, including train regularity, train speed, line plan specifications (train stops), overtaking and train heterogeneity. The MCTC model and IA method are used to test a real-world case involving the timetable of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway in China.
•Dry ports provide significant economic, environmental and social benefits.•Effective dry port network design is critical for effective maritime logistics.•Presents an integrative framework ...considering reverse logistics in dryport operations.•Developed a Hesitant Fuzzy Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis and Complex Proportional Assessment (HF-SWARA-COPRAS)
Dry ports are crucial to marine logistics, providing significant economic, environmental, and social benefits. Effective network design is key to their success, and decisions on location and capacity must consider both objective data and expert opinions to avoid costly long-term consequences. This research presents an integrative framework that combines a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method with fuzzy stochastic chance-constrained optimization, forms an integrated multi-objective model, and solves it using the epsilon-constraint approach. The demands for imports and exports are presented in a scenario-based manner, and in each scenario, demands are expressed as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. To guarantee the level of confidence in satisfying demands, a fuzzy chance constraint method has been used and the stochastic objective function has been transformed into a deterministic counterpart using a novel robust optimization technique. The paper is also among the first to consider reverse logistics from inland to seaports through dry ports to highlight their role in marine export. Since the output of the model is highly dependent on the parameter settings, the mechanism of the parameters’ impact on the profit maximization objective function is investigated through a full factorial experiment. The results of the mathematical model proposed in this research, which has been tested on an Iranian case study suggest that high-capacity dry ports should be established in the cities of Sirjan and Tehran, while smaller dry ports should be built in the cities of Isfahan, and Ahvaz. Also, the model suggests that the seaports of Chabahar and Anzali should be connected to Iran’s national railway network so that the transportation of goods from them to dry ports on the hinterlands in Sirjan and Tehran can be done at a lower cost.
•A model is proposed for express delivery with high-speed railway.•The model is formulated on two-stage basis.•A meta-heuristic is designed to solve the model.•Case study based on railway company is ...conducted.
With the expansion of the high-speed railway (HSR) network in China, high-speed rail express delivery (HSReD) is being used to satisfy the increasing demand for express cargo. The decisions on transportation resources arrangement and freight flow allocation are two of the key issues for practical implementation of HSReD. In this study, we examine the above key issues by developing a two-stage stochastic integer linear programming model to maximize the expected net operation profit of HSReD. A meta-heuristic solution approach introduced some tailored tactics is proposed to speed up the process of solving the above model in the large-scale instances. Numerical experiments based on different sizes and practical investigation on China Railway Nanchang Group are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model and solution approach. Some managerial implications are also obtained based on the sensitivity analysis, which may be potentially useful for optimizing the daily operation management of HSReD.
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