Routing Trains Through Railway Stations: Model Formulation and Algorithms

In this paper we consider the problem of routing trains through railway stations. This problem occurs as a subproblem in a project which the authors are carrying out in cooperation with the Dutch railways. The project involves the analysis of future infrastructural capacity requirements in the Dutch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transportation science 1996-08, Vol.30 (3), p.181-194
Main Authors: Zwaneveld, Peter J, Kroon, Leo G, Romeijn, H. Edwin, Salomon, Marc, Dauzere-Peres, Stephane, Van Hoesel, Stan P. M, Ambergen, Harrie W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Applied sciences
Arrivals and departures
Departure time
Exact sciences and technology
Ground, air and sea transportation, marine construction
Heuristics
Integers
Netherlands
Optimal solutions
Railroad stations
Railroad trains
Railway networks
Railway traffic
Railway transport
Railway transportation and traffic
Scheduling
Transport planning
Zwolle
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Summary:In this paper we consider the problem of routing trains through railway stations. This problem occurs as a subproblem in a project which the authors are carrying out in cooperation with the Dutch railways. The project involves the analysis of future infrastructural capacity requirements in the Dutch railway network. Part of this project is the automatic generation and evaluation of timetables. To generate a timetable a hierarchical approach is followed: at the upper level in the hierarchy a tentative timetable is generated, taking into account the specific scheduling problems of the trains at the railway stations at an aggregate level. At the lower level in the hierarchy it is checked whether the tentative timetable is feasible with respect to the safety rules and the connection requirements at the stations. To carry out this consistency check, detailed schedules for the trains at the railway yards have to be generated. In this paper we present a mathematical model formulation for this detailed scheduling problem, based on the Node Packing Problem (NPP). Furthermore, we describe a solution procedure for the problem, based on a branch-and-cut approach. The approach is tested in an empirical study with data from the station of Zwolle in The Netherlands.
ISSN:0041-1655
1526-5447
DOI:10.1287/trsc.30.3.181