In the locomotive-scheduling problem (or the locomotive-assignment problem), we must assign a consist (a set of locomotives) to each train in a preplanned train schedule so as to provide each train ...with sufficient locomotive power to pull the train from its origin to its destination. Locomotive-scheduling problems are among the most important problems in railroad scheduling. In this paper, we report the results of a study on the locomotive-scheduling problem as it is faced by CSX Transportation, a major U.S. railroad company. We consider the planning version of the locomotive-scheduling model (LSM) in which multiple types of locomotives exist, and we need to decide which set of locomotives should be assigned to each train. We present an integrated model that determines: the set of active and deadheaded locomotives for each train; the light-traveling locomotives from power sources to power sinks; and train-to-train connections (for which we specify which inbound trains and outbound trains can directly connect). An important feature of our model is that we explicitly consider consist bustings and consistency . A consist is said to be busted when a set of locomotives coming on an inbound train is broken into subsets to be reassigned to two or more outbound trains. A solution is consistent over a week if a train receives the same locomotive assignment each day that it runs. We will provide a mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulation of the locomotive-assignment problem. However, an MIP of this size cannot be solved to optimality or near optimality in acceptable running times using commercially available software. Using problem decomposition, integer programming, and very large-scale neighborhood search, we have developed a solution technique to solve this problem within 30 minutes of computation time on a Pentium III computer. Our solution obtained a potential savings of over 400 locomotives over the solution obtained by the in-house software developed by CSX.
The objective of the European railway reforms which started in the 1990s was to enable the entry of competition to raise the efficiency of railway transport. This was undertaken because the level of ...services, particularly in former Eastern Bloc countries, was very low due to neglected investment, and so railway transport market share was in decline. The primary goal of this text is to determine based on available empirical studies whether the reforms affected the efficiency of the railway sector positively, and the secondary aim is to identify the factors which complicate evaluation of the reforms’ impact. According to empirical studies, the effect of competition on efficiency is unclear. The reforms have brought the most benefit to consumers, but their overall effect depends on many other factors. Competition for the market appeared to be a better way of implementing competition than competition in the market. In addition, comprehension of the problems complicating the analysis and their inclusion in the evaluation process constitutes an important point in evaluating the reforms’ effects and could be inspiring for countries that have not yet implemented all reforms.
We estimate spatial hedonic price functions to examine local and regional accessibility benefits of commuter rail service in Eastern Massachusetts, while controlling for proximity-related negative ...externalities and other confounding influences. The data include 1,860 single-family residential properties from four municipalities with commuter rail service, and three municipalities without commuter rail service. We find some evidence of the capitalization of accessibility to commuter rail stations. Two model specifications suggest that properties located in municipalities with commuter rail stations exhibit values that are between 9.6% and 10.1% higher than properties in municipalities without a commuter rail station. With a third model we detect weak evidence of the capitalization of auto access time or walking time to the stations, suggesting that properties located within a one-half mile buffer of a station have values that are 10.1% higher than properties located outside of this buffer area and that an additional minute of drive time from the station is related to a decrease of 1.6% in property values. Our results also indicate that proximity to commuter rail right-of-way has a significant negative effect on property values, which suggests that for every 1,000 ft. in distance from the commuter rail right-of-way, property values are between $732 and $2,897 higher, all else held equal. At the mean sample values, this result translates into an elasticity of between 0.03 and 0.13, depending on the functional form of the hedonic price equation. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Background:
Currently, the issue of the company’s innovative development is relevant in all areas of activity. Railway transport, which has one of the development vectors such as an innovative ...component, poses for itself the task of achieving high competitiveness through active innovative developments and implementations. This direction is influenced by external and internal factors, which should be taken into account while developing and implementing the company's innovative development strategy.
Nowadays, there is increase in the development of global competition and in the transfer of innovations in all areas of service industries, including the railway sector. In recent years, the countries of the Asian region have adopted a strategy for developing the competitiveness of the transport sector through innovative development and the transfer of technology.
Objective:
The study aims at investigating environmental factors which influence innovative development of transport company and evaluating their interdependence using correlation-regression analysis.
Methods:
The correlation-regression analysis and comparative approach were used to develop the model.
Results:
Two Rail corporations from Asian region were investigated. External and internal factors influencing innovative development of these corporations were found; significant in explaining the factors’ interdependence was discussed.
Conclusion:
Different groups of factors influence innovative development of transport companies in Asia. These findings can be used as information for managers to develop strategic programs to improve innovative development process in Asian transport companies.
There is growing interest in establishing additional evidence, under the umbrella of the wider economy impacts of transport infrastructure projects, to support transport projects in general and ...public transport projects in particular that struggle to obtain benefit–cost ratios sufficient to gain the support of financial agencies. This paper focuses on one element of wider economy impacts, often referred to as effective economic (employment) density or employment agglomeration impacts, and another, less usually identified, social accessibility impact (SAI) which we refer to as effective social density, which in broad terms provide, correspondingly, evidence of the potential gains in work-related output (often referred to as productivity gains) and potential gains in non-work-related outputs. Both are associated with gains in individual and household benefit attributable to improved accessibility to services linked with populations and particular locations. The SAIs may capture some of the induced benefits in those jurisdictions where these are included routinely in benefit–cost analysis, and the methodology here is most appropriate to those settings where an existing calibrated demand curve may not be available. Using the proposed high speed rail (HSR) project between Sydney and Melbourne as the empirical setting, we identify economic agglomeration and social accessibility benefits for work and non-work related activity respectively. We find the former to be relatively small compared to the significant gains associated with non-work related travel activity, suggesting the greatest benefits associated with HSR, especially for those residents outside of the major metropolitan areas, will be non-work related travel activity.
Surface stresses in samples of wheel steel with different degree of plastic deformation are studied. Both surface stresses and the microstructure of the steel are changed in the dependence on the ...plastic deformation magnitude. The X-ray technique is shown can be used to study a change in the surface stresses due to development a plastic deformation under action of operating loads.
Numerous inhabitants of the Krapina-Zag01je county fulfiltheir needs (work, education, trade) in the City of Zagreb. Themain passenger streams are related to railway transportationwhich, due to ...insufficient investments in the infrastructure andtransportation means, shows decrease in the service quality. Amodel is proposed for organising suburban and urban railwaytransp011ation in the Krapina-Zag01je county and the City ofZagreb, which would offer better quality in transportation services,increase economic efficiency of railway transp01tation,and thus eliminate the 1isk of having to close down cerlain railroadsin the county.
The major migrant crisis, which has been spreading across Europe for the past few years, has also affected Croatia in many ways. A relatively small country in South East Europe that lies on two ...important transport corridors – Pan-European Corridor Xa and Vb – happened also to be on two big migratory routes: the Western Balkan route and the Mediterranean route. The consequences thereof have been seen in a huge number of migrants who passed over Croatian territory, going towards countries in Western Europe, often found hidden in trucks and trains at the border crossings towards Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Hungary. This paper deals with the question of the impact this phenomenon has made on freight transport industry in Croatia (and the entire region of South East Europe), by analysing regional trends in irregular migrations of people in connection to the introduction of new police security measures (on trucks and trains), and the performance of road and rail transport services in these sensitive times.
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