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Construction of Differentiated Periodic Freight Train Paths in Dense Mixed Traffic

Author

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  • Michal Drábek

    (Department of Logistics and Management of Transport, Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Horská 3, 128 03 Prague, Czech Republic)

  • Vít Janoš

    (Department of Logistics and Management of Transport, Faculty of Transportation Sciences, Czech Technical University in Prague, Horská 3, 128 03 Prague, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Freight rail transport plays key role in the transition to sustainable development. However, on European mainlines, freight trains have to cope with busy passenger operation—mostly in the form of (integrated) periodic timetables. Freight trains are characterized with very diverse parameters, so scheduling pre-arranged periodic freight train paths (PFTPs) on the basis of one sample freight train does not meet the needs of most freight operators. This article introduces new detailed framework process for hierarchized construction of differentiated (segmented) pre-arranged PFTPs. The process considers fluctuations in demand for capacity from freight rail operators, so the quality of a freight train path in terms of number of stops is related with its construction priority. This way, the process enhances competitiveness and decreases energy consumption of freight railway, as a factor for sustainable development. Correctness of the framework process is tested on the example of the Prague—Dresden mainline, in the context of prospective (denser) model passenger timetable. Results show that above 70% of real freight trains from the available historical data can fit into the proposed PFTPs. As a conclusion, the authors recommend reduction of service of the least frequent stops of regional trains to reduce number of scheduled stops for freight trains.

Suggested Citation

  • Michal Drábek & Vít Janoš, 2021. "Construction of Differentiated Periodic Freight Train Paths in Dense Mixed Traffic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-33, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8330-:d:601588
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gabrio Caimi & Marco Laumanns & Kaspar Schüpbach & Stefan Wörner & Martin Fuchsberger, 2011. "The periodic service intention as a conceptual framework for generating timetables with partial periodicity," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 323-339, March.
    2. Cacchiani, Valentina & Caprara, Alberto & Toth, Paolo, 2010. "Scheduling extra freight trains on railway networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 215-231, February.
    3. Svetla Stoilova & Nolberto Munier & Martin Kendra & Tomáš Skrúcaný, 2020. "Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Railway Network Performance in Countries of the TEN-T Orient–East Med Corridor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-22, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wennan Song & Di Liu & Wenyu Rong, 2022. "Optimization of Passenger-like Container Train Running Plan Considering Empty Container Dispatch," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, April.

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