Rail track infrastructure ownership: investment and operational issues

As privatisation of railway systems reach the political agendas in a number of countries, the separation of track infrastructure from train operations is seen as providing the vehicle which will improve profitability within the rail industry. This paper deals with three main issues related to such separation within a freight railway focus, namely: investment appraisal; track standards and maintenance; and train operating performance. The conflicts of interest between the owners of track and their client operators are discussed in detail. Costs related to track capacity and congestion need to be taken into account, given that additional trains are likely to lead to increased risk of delays to existing services. The paper discusses the use of a travel time reliability model to estimate the additional costs imposed on the system through the introduction of specific train services.It is concluded that investment in individual elements of railway infrastructure must be integrated with the overall financial and customer service strategies of both operators and owners. As an alternative to current practices, a hybrid model of track ownership is put forward here. Under such a model, a joint-venture company with equity from the main ÒplayersÓ would be owner of track. This would allow some of the benefits of vertical integration to be retained, whilst providing fair access to new operators.     

Development and Impact of the Modern High‐speed Train: A Review

Abstract

The inauguration of the Shinkansen high‐speed train service between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, at 210 kph maximum operating speed some 40 years ago marked the comeback of the train as an important passenger mode of transport. Since then high‐speed train (HST) services have been introduced in many countries and are planned in many more, and the train has once more become the dominant mode of transport on many routes. This review summarizes the different elements of HST operation with the aim of characterizing HST operation and putting in context its impact in terms of what it is best designed for and what it can deliver. The review concludes that the HST is best designed to substitute conventional railway services on routes where much higher capacity is required and to reduce travel time, further improving the railway service, also against other modes, therefore leading to mode substitution. However, the high investment in HST infrastructure could not be justified based on its economic development benefits since these are not certain. Finally, the following definition for HST services is suggested: high capacity and frequency railway services achieving an average speed of over 200 kph.     

An Institutional Analysis of Coordination in Liberalized Port-related Railway Chains: An Application to the Port of Rotterdam

Abstract

The European railway market has gone through a period of liberalization over the last two decades. The liberalization of the railway market has also affected port-related railway transport. Efficient port-related transport chains are key in the competition among ports, however providing this efficiency is to a large extent a coordination challenge. Many forms of coordination are needed to ensure that the railway chain operates efficiently, including the bundling of cargo, and good organization between railway companies, terminal operators and the infrastructure managers to realize an efficient use of assets. From the literature, it appears that less attention has been paid to the economic organization of port-related railway transport in general, and specifically in the new liberalized institutional environment. The goal of this paper is to come up with a framework to better understand the issue of coordination in port-related railway chains in a liberalized institutional environment. This paper presents a conceptual framework rooted in Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). Based on an in-depth study into coordination in liberalized container railway market at the Port of Rotterdam, empirical illustrations are used to adjust the TCE approach toward a dynamic model influenced by Douglas North's theory on economic and institutional change. Empirics from the port of Rotterdam show that new players have entered the railway market and their role has changed. This paper shows that coordination of railway operations has become more complex after the regime change. From a port perspective, liberalization does not lead to an optimal allocation of resources in a process that is highly operationally interdependent. In the liberalized environment, coordination arrangements are necessary to enable efficient coordination of railway operations in Rotterdam.     

A proposal for cost-related and market-oriented train running charges

This paper examines some key aspects of a charging system for promoting railway transport, including charges reflecting a clear relationship with costs (transparency) and charges reflecting the quality of the infrastructure manager's service. Train running charges recover track-related costs and can help to develop a charging system that meets these requirements. To orient train running charges to the market, a method for processing track maintenance and renewal costs is proposed whereby the quality of the service provided by an infrastructure is measured according to its utility to the railway undertaking. To achieve transparency, a single indicator is used for cost planning and the subsequent levying of costs on railway undertakings. The paper includes an example of how proposed train running charges would be calculated according to data from 14 European countries. The example shows that short-distance trains generate the lowest maintenance and renewal costs, followed by long-distance trains and freight trains.     

Techniques for inserting additional trains into existing timetables

In this paper techniques for scheduling additional train services (SATS) are considered as is train scheduling involving general time window constraints, fixed operations, maintenance activities and periods of section unavailability. The SATS problem is important because additional services must often be given access to the railway and subsequently integrated into current timetables. The SATS problem therefore considers the competition for railway infrastructure between new services and existing services belonging to the same or different operators. The SATS problem is characterised as a hybrid job shop scheduling problem with time window constraints. To solve this problem constructive algorithm and meta-heuristic scheduling techniques that operate upon a disjunctive graph model of train operations are utilised. From numerical investigations the proposed framework and associated techniques are tested and shown to be effective.     

A tabu search algorithm to solve the integrated planning of container on an inter-terminal network connected with a hinterland rail network

Transport demand for containers has been increasing for decades, which places pressure on road transport. As a result, rail transport is stimulated to provide better intermodal freight transport services. This paper investigates mathematical models for the planning of container movements in a port area, integrating the inter-terminal transport of containers (ITT, within the port area) with the rail freight formation and transport process (towards the hinterland). An integer linear programming model is used to formulate the container transport across operations at container terminals, the network interconnecting them, railway yards and the railway networks towards the hinterland. A tabu search algorithm is proposed to solve the problem. The practical applicability of the algorithm is tested in a realistic infrastructure case and different demand scenarios. Our results show the degree by which internal (ITT) and external (hinterland) transport processes interact, and the potential for improvement of overall operations when the integrated optimization proposed is used. Instead, if the planning of containers in the ITT system is optimized as a stand-alone problem, the railway terminals may suffer from longer delay times or additional train cancellations. When planning the transport of 4060 TEU containers within one day, the benefits of the ITT planning without considering railway operations account for 17% ITT cost reduction but 93% railway operational cost growth, while the benefits of integrating ITT and railway account for a reduction of 20% in ITT cost and 44% in railway operational costs.     

Competition in the UK passenger railway industry: Prospects and problems

The promotion of competition between passenger train operators was a key aim of the 1992- 97 Conservative Government when it privatized British Rail. Although the potential for competition in the market was constrained through regulation at the time of the sale, competition for the market became intense. Regulatory controls are now being relaxed and the promotion of competition remains central to the present Labour Government's rail strategy, particularly in the form of a redefined and reinvigorated franchising programme. It seems to be generally accepted in policy-making circles that it is both possible and desirable to encourage competition in the UK's railway industry on the grounds that it can further enhance service quality across the network. This paper highlights some qualifications to this position and suggests that, for various reasons, a strong policy emphasis on market liberalization may be impractical or unsuitable, at least in the short to medium term.     

Non-discriminatory train dispatching in a rail transport market with multiple competing and collaborative train operating companies

Train dispatching is vital for the punctuality of train services, which is critical for a train operating company (TOC) to maintain its competitiveness. Due to the introduction of competition in the railway transport market, the issue of discrimination is attracting more and more attention. This paper focuses on delivering non-discriminatory train dispatching solutions while multiple TOCs are competing in a rail transport market, and investigating impacting factors of the inequity of train dispatching solutions. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is first proposed, in which the inequity of competitors (i.e., trains and TOCs) is formalized by a set of constraints. In order to provide a more flexible framework, a model is further reformulated where the inequity of competitors is formalized as the maximum individual deviation of competitors’ delay cost from average delay cost in the objective function. Complex infrastructure capacity constraints are considered and modelled through a big M-based approach. The proposed models are solved by a standard MILP solver. A set of comprehensive experiments is conducted on a real-world dataset adapted from the Dutch railway network to test the efficiency, effectiveness, and applicability of the proposed models, as well as determine the trade-off between train delays and delay equity.     

Passenger Perspectives in Railway Timetabling: A Literature Review

When looking at railway planning, a discrepancy exists between planners who focus on the train operations and publish fixed railway schedules, and passengers who look not only at the schedules but also at the entirety of their trip, from access to waiting to on-board travel and egress. Looking into this discrepancy is essential, as assessing railway performances by merely measuring train punctuality would provide an unfair picture of the level of service experienced by passengers. Firstly, passengers’ delays are often significantly larger than the train delays responsible for the passengers to be late. Secondly, trains’ punctuality is often strictly related to too tight schedules that in turn might translate into knock-on delays for longer dwelling times at stations, trip delays for increased risk of missing transfer connections, and uncertain assessment of the level of service experienced, especially with fluctuating passenger demand. A key aspect is the robustness of railway timetables. Empirical evidence indicates that passengers give more importance to travel time certainty than travel time reductions, as passengers associate an inherent disutility with travel time uncertainty. This disutility may be broadly interpreted as an anxiety cost for the need for having contingency plans in case of disruptions, and may be looked at as the motivator for the need for delay-robust railway timetables. Interestingly, passenger-oriented optimisation studies considering robustness in railway planning typically limit their emphasis on passengers to the consideration of transfer maintenance. Clearly, passengers’ travel behaviour is far more complex and multi-faceted and thus several other aspects should be considered, as becoming more and more evident from passenger surveys. The current literature review starts by looking at the parameters that railway optimisation/planning studies are focused on and the key performance indicators that impact railway planning. The attention then turns to the parameters influencing passengers’ perceptions and travel experiences. Finally, the review proposes guidelines on how to reduce the gap between the operators’ railway planning and performance measurement on the one hand and the passengers’ perception of the railway performance on the other hand. Thereby, the conclusions create a foundation for a more passenger-oriented railway timetabling ensuring that passengers are provided with the best service possible with the resources available.     

Performance assessment of transport services with the ERM-NDEA model: evidence from a domestic airline in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper estimates comprehensive operational performance measures for transport services. A network efficiency approach is used to analyze the production efficiency, service efficiency, and operational efficiency in a unified framework to reflect the transportation service characteristics of airline operations. We show how a modified version of the network data envelopment analysis model can be utilized for evaluating the performance of air route operations. This study considers 15 air routes operated by a domestic airline in Taiwan to highlight the value of the approach. The results of the analysis show the inputs and consumed outputs leading to production inefficiency and service inefficiency respectively as well as the magnitudes of excesses and shortfalls.     

The Benefits for Rail Freight Customers of Vertical Separation and Open Access

Abstract

This paper reviews and analyses the benefits for rail freight customers of the two principal models for introducing competition in main line railway networks: (1) the vertical separation of infrastructure from operations; and (2) the introduction of competition providing other operators with open access to the network. The paper shows that traffic growth has generally been higher in those European countries that have liberalized most. It then examines in detail the impact of restructuring in Great Britain in terms of the competition, freight rates and traffic growth. The paper concludes that vertical separation benefits freight customers more than just open access.     

Amtrak,the attempt to renew U.S. rail service

The decline of railway passenger train patronage and the deterioration of service in the United States have led the U.S. Government to assume control over the operation of trains via a quasi‐federal corporation called “Amtrak,” but some basic causes of the decline remain and new problems will arise as a result of this action.

Two results of the neglect to assess external costs against the various transport modes is an unbalance in favor of those with the higher external costs and the continued, seemingly fundamental, unprofitability of railway passenger service, which exists even for equipment that operates at capacity!

Some way of collecting external costs will have to be found, and the problems created by the new intrusion of the U.S. Government into transport will have to be faced.     

Energy conservation and intercity freight transport

In this paper, the characteristics of intercity freight modal operations are investigated to evaluate the potential for achieving energy savings. It is determined that the greatest opportunities for conserving energy appear to rest with achieving modal shifts and operational improvements in truck and rail transport. To test this hypothesis, intercity truck and rail freight operations are analyzed to determine the relationships between energy consumption and the delivery of transport service. The energy consumption impact of alternative conservation measures are calculated, and in turn, evaluated in light of a series of institutional constraints. As such, this study goes beyond the characteristic cataloging of alternative energy conservation measures by conducting a disaggregated assessment of the effectiveness and feasibility of implementing such measures. This paper concludes that the potential for achieving energy conservation in the movement of intercity freight in general, and by truck and rail systems in particular, is limited, as well as shrouded by the complexity of the nature of the commodity itself, the commodity flow characteristics, and the market and institutional structure.     

Automated real-time railway traffic control: an experimental analysis of reliability,resilience and robustness

Railway transportation provides sustainable, fast and safe transport. Its attractiveness is linked to a broad concept of service reliability: the capability to adhere to a timetable in the presence of delays perturbing traffic. To counter these phenomena, real-time rescheduling can be used, changing train orders and times, according to rules of thumb, or mathematical optimization models, minimizing delays or maximizing punctuality. In the literature, different indices of robustness, reliability and resilience are defined for railway traffic. We review and evaluate these indices applied to railway traffic control, comparing optimal rescheduling approaches such as Open Loop and Closed Loop control, to a typical First-Come-First-Served dispatching rule, and following the timetable (no-action). This experimental analysis clarifies the benefits of automated traffic control for infrastructure managers, railway operators and passengers. The timetable order, normally used in assessing a-priori reliability, systematically overestimates unreliability of operations that can be reduced by real-time control.     

The train platforming problem: The infrastructure management company perspective

If railway companies ask for station capacity numbers, their underlying question is in fact one about the platformability of extra trains. Train platformability depends not only on the infrastructure, buffer times, and the desired departure and arrival times of the trains, but also on route durations, which depend on train speeds and lengths, as well as on conflicts between routes at any given time. We consider all these factors in this paper. We assume a current train set and a future one, where the second is based on the expected traffic increase through the station considered. The platforming problem is about assigning a platform to each train, together with suitable in- and out-routes. Route choices lead to different route durations and imply different in-route-begin and out-route-end times. Our module platforms the maximum possible weighted sum of trains in the current and future train set. The resulting number of trains can be seen as the realistic capacity consumption of the schedule. Our goal function allows for current trains to be preferably allocated to their current platforms.Our module is able to deal with real stations and train sets in a few seconds and has been fully integrated by Infrabel, the Belgian Infrastructure Management Company, in their application called Ocapi, which is now used to platform existing and projected train sets and to determine the capacity consumption.     

Passenger centric train timetabling problem

The aim of this paper is to analyze and to improve the current planning process of the passenger railway service in light of the recent railway market changes. In order to do so, we introduce the Passenger Centric Train Timetabling Problem. The originality of our approach is that we account for the passenger satisfaction in the design of the timetable. We consider both types of timetable(s): cyclic and non-cyclic. The problem is modeled as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem with an objective of maximizing the train operating company’s profit while maintaining ε level of passenger satisfaction. The model does not take into account conflicts between trains and does not adjust dwell times at stopping stations among the lines. By solving the model for various values of ε, the approximated Pareto frontier is constructed. The analysis, based on an experiment using realistic data, shows that an improvement of passenger satisfaction while maintaining a low profit loss for the railway company can be achieved. A sensitivity analysis on passenger congestion illustrates a quantitative evidence that the non-cyclic timetables can account better for high density demand in comparison to cyclic timetables.     

Individual freight effects,capacity utilization,and Amtrak service quality

This paper offers a new perspective on the post-deregulation rail industry. We hypothesize that a link exists between individual freight effects and Amtrak service quality. Specifically, we investigate the relationship between freight control of the infrastructure on which Amtrak trains operate and Amtrak train delays. Our sample consists of 1117 directional station-pairs for fiscal years 2002 through 2007 on 28 Amtrak non-Northeast Corridor passenger routes. We found that freight effects have a significant impact on Amtrak train delays after controlling for other important delay determinants such as the capacity utilization rate. The impact is higher on long-distance routes. We also observed significant differences between the effects of different freight railroads. For example, Amtrak operations on infrastructure controlled by several Class I railroads experienced significantly larger delays than baseline operations, while Amtrak train delays on Burlington Northern and Santa Fe’s tracks actually fell below baseline levels.     

Are railways really that bad? An evaluation of rail systems performance in Europe with a focus on passenger rail

With a large number of railway development projects in Europe and worldwide, which once completed will be serving rail passengers of the future, this paper aims to take a step back and evaluate current railway systems performance. The objectives are to compare statistical data on various passenger-related parameters of the railway system in a number of selected European countries and draw conclusions on the level of their performance when compared to the European average.Analyses of publically available statistical data, extracted from the Eurostat service at a European level will allow for a comparison of various indicators which influence the performance of the railway systems from an infrastructure and operational perspectives. The analyses will also allow identifying key performance indicators for the accurate assessment of the rail systems.The paper will highlight case studies for various parameters which are important to stakeholders of the railways, including infrastructure managers, rail operators, policy makers and the end users. This knowledge will be to the benefit of today’s railway industry as well as the rail systems of the future, as it will show trends drew upon existing data which might continue in the future.     

Collaborative Logistics from the Perspective of Road Transportation Companies

ABSTRACT

To survive under the ever increasing competitive and global pressures to operate more efficiently, transportation companies are obliged to adopt a collaborative focus. Various types of cooperative supply chain relationships have been discussed in both professional and academic literature over the last decades. However, research on horizontal cooperation in logistics remains scarce and scattered across various research domains. Companies operating at the same level of the supply chain and performing comparable logistics functions may cooperate horizontally to increase their productivity, improve their service level and enhance their market position. In this paper, the focus is on the operational planning of horizontal cooperations between road transportation carriers. Following a scientific literature review, a distinction may be made between two operational approaches to horizontal logistics collaboration: order sharing and capacity sharing. For both research streams, a detailed overview of solution techniques proposed in literature is presented. Moreover, some interesting opportunities for future research are identified.     

Modelling route choice behaviour in multi-modal transport networks

The paper presents new findings on the influence of multi-modal trip attributes on the quality and competitiveness of inter-urban multi-modal train alternatives. The analysis covers the entire trip from origin to destination, including access and egress legs to and from the train network. The focus is on preferences for different feeder modes, railway station types and train service types as well as on the relative influence of time elements and transfer penalties. Data from dedicated surveys are used including individual objective choice sets of 235 multi-modal homebound trips in which train is the main transport mode. The observed trips have origins and destinations within the Rotterdam–Dordrecht region in The Netherlands with an average total trip time of 50 minutes. Hierarchical Nested Logit models are estimated to take account of unobserved similarities between alternatives at the home-end and the activity-end of the trip respectively, resulting in two-level nesting structures which differentiate between intercity (IC) and non-intercity railway station types at the upper level and between transit and private access modes at the lower level. In order to reflect the multi-dimensional structure of the data a more advanced so-called Multi-Nested GEV model according to the Principles of Differentiation has been estimated which significantly improves the explanatory power and stresses the importance of the home-end of the multi-modal trip.