Multi-level condition-based maintenance planning for railway infrastructures – A scenario-based chance-constrained approach

This paper develops a multi-level decision making approach for the optimal planning of maintenance operations of railway infrastructures, which are composed of multiple components divided into basic units for maintenance. Scenario-based chance-constrained Model Predictive Control (MPC) is used at the high level to determine an optimal long-term component-wise intervention plan for a railway infrastructure, and the Time Instant Optimization (TIO) approach is applied to transform the MPC optimization problem with both continuous and integer decision variables into a nonlinear continuous optimization problem. The middle-level problem determines the allocation of time slots for the maintenance interventions suggested at the high level to optimize the trade-off between traffic disruption and the setup cost of maintenance slots. Based on the high-level intervention plan, the low-level problem determines the optimal clustering of the basic units to be treated by a maintenance agent, subject to the time limit imposed by the maintenance slots. The proposed approach is applied to the optimal treatment of squats, with real data from the Eindhoven-Weert line in the Dutch railway network.     

China’s electric car frustrations

By 2020, the vehicle population in China will likely exceed 280 million—exacerbating national energy security, urban air pollution, and traffic congestion. In response, many local and regional governments in China are pursuing an expanding array of measures to restrain growth in personal vehicle ownership and, along with the central government, reducing emissions and energy use of vehicles. One prominent strategy is the promotion of new energy vehicles, especially plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Large subsidies were offered—up to $27,600 (171,000 RMB) per vehicle in some regions, including almost $9200 (57,000 RMB) from the central government—which suggests that China is making a major commitment to PEVs. But sales have been meager. In 2013, only 17,600 PEVs, mostly buses and utility trucks, were sold, less than 0.1% of total civilian vehicle sales. Several factors explain the failure of PEV sales to take off: (1) protectionism by local governments; (2) uncertainty over which electric-drive vehicle technologies to promote and what consumers are willing to pay, (3) lagging investments in charging infrastructure, and (4) conservative investment behavior by automakers and battery manufacturers. The central government issued directives to local governments in late 2013 to reduce barriers to out-of-town companies, resulting in modest sales increases in early 2014, but a more coherent, broader, and effective set of policies, incentives, and strategies are needed to overcome consumer and industry resistance and the lack of charging infrastructure.     

Rail Infrastructure: Challenges for Cost–Benefit Analysis and Other ex ante Evaluations

Abstract

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) plays a major role in the ex ante evaluation of rail projects in many western countries. At first sight carrying out a CBA for rail projects seems straightforward, since cost estimates are almost always available, and the most dominant benefits are generally known, being the travel time saved and the increase in consumer surplus due to induced demand. However, the practice is much more complex: the quality of current estimates for costs and benefits is often poor and several benefits-related aspects are ignored. This article gives an overview of the challenges in improving the quality of CBAs for rail projects.     

神朔铁路分公司行车固定设备生产管理信息系统的设计与实现

为适应神朔铁路高密度和重载运输的需求,神朔铁路分公司研发了“神朔铁路分公司行车固定设备生产管理信息系统”.根据行车固定设备生产管理的业务要求,系统涉及神朔铁路分公司、运输段、领工区和工区等4级用户,需要采集设备的台账数据、检修数据和空间数据.系统的建设将有计划、按周期地对行车固定设备进行更新和维修,满足神朔铁路运输生产的需要,为确保行车固定设备的正常运用提供技术手段.本文主要针对该系统的系统设计和功能实现两个方面的内容进行了讨论,介绍了该系统设计的具体方法和展示已实现的部分功能.     

基于ITIL的物流企业信息系统运维改进探究

本文以铁路物流企业中铁快运为例,在对信息系统运维管理实施过程中应用ITIL及IT服务管理的理论,构建信息系统集中运行管理平台,对提高IT系统运维效率和管理水平做了尝试.     

公私合营模式在交通基础设施项目中关键性成功因素分析

公私合营（public-private partnership,PPP）模式作为近年来逐步兴起的开放式融资模式,能够更加迅速地满足项目融资需求,对促进基础设施建设形成有力的补充。基于研究PPP模式在香港、英国和澳大利亚的应用,通过分析针对18个成功因素的问卷调查结果显示,来自不同地区的受访者均认为良好的私营机构、适当的风险分配和分担、公营部门和私营机构的承诺和责任这三点是最为重要的PPP模式关键性成功因素。基于对这些因素的特点研究与排序,进一步分析各因素间的变量关系、共性特点和差异性特点。由于中国针对PPP模式关键性成功因素分析专题的文献很少,希望本论文能够对中国的PPP学术研究和发展提供参考。