TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-discriminatory train dispatching in a rail transport market with multiple competing and collaborative train operating companies
AU - Luan, Xiaojie
AU - Corman, Francesco
AU - Meng, Lingyun
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Equity
KW - Mixed-integer linear programming
KW - Train dispatching
KW - Train Operating Company (TOC)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018733082&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trc.2017.04.011
DO - 10.1016/j.trc.2017.04.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018733082
SN - 0968-090X
VL - 80
SP - 148
EP - 174
JO - Transportation Research. Part C: Emerging Technologies
JF - Transportation Research. Part C: Emerging Technologies
ER -