Railway scheduling by network optimization

✍ Scribed by A.I. Mees

• Book ID: 103928818
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 830 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0895-7177
• DOI: 10.1016/0895-7177(91)90014-x

✦ Synopsis

Problems involving allocation of shared resources, such as sections of railway track, can often be solved efficiently using network optimization algorithms. In this paper we discuss a problem which involves scheduling different kinds of trains on a railway network consisting of a mix of double and single track, and which incorporates rather complicated practical constraints. The mathematical model of the problem is an integer network optimization problem with side constraints, and is difficult or impossible to solve exactly in reasonable time. Even finding a feasible solution is non-trivial. We present an efficient approximate algorithm which can find good feasible solutions for real-world networks quickly with modest computing resources. 1. RAILWAY SCHEDULING 'A typical train at Mt. Newman is 3 km long, has 240 trucks and 5 locomotives, and carries 25,000 tonnes of ore.

Stopping it and restarting causes a great deal of wear to brakes, couplings and tracks.