Train network design optimization applied to capacity estimation

ISABEL MÉNDEZ-DÍAZ; JUAN JOSÉ MIRANDA BRONT; PAULA ZABALA

Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires

Workshop; Workshop in Operations, Networks and Data Analytics; 2015

Universidad Torcuato Di Tella

In this research we consider a planning problem arising from a practical application in a freight railroad company in Argentina, motivated by two different reasons. The first one is to develop an automated tool that can be incorporated to the company´s systems for tactical planning. Furthermore, the Planning Management aims also to develop a software to evaluate the potential impact of long-term strategic decisions, such as infrastructure investments and major changes in the rolling stock. Our proposal is therefore to develop a scenario-based tool that uses this module to perform a tactical planning, aiming to provide feasible solutions for which different metrics and analysis can be carried out.For the first stage of the overall planning we consider the solution of the so-called Train Network Design Optimization problem (TDO), which tackles the integrated problem involving the determination of the train routes jointly with the assignment of shipments (blocks) to trains. In this presentation we show some preliminary developments regarding the application of the TDO to the context of the company, including some modifications to the definition of the TDP in order to account for particular operational constraints.