IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orinte/v48y2018i6p510-528.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Station Dispatching Problem for a Large Terminal: A Constraint Programming Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Rajnish Kumar

    (Department of Mathematics, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur 713209, West Bengal, India)

  • Goutam Sen

    (Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India)

  • Samarjit Kar

    (Department of Mathematics, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur 713209, West Bengal, India)

  • Manoj Kumar Tiwari

    (Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India)

Abstract

At Howrah Station, the largest railway station in India, planners manually determine the routing and scheduling of train movements (referred to as train dispatching) at present. This approach to train dispatching, which is a complex combinatorial optimization problem, can result in long delays because planners have many resource-allocation options in the spatial and temporal domains. In this paper, we discuss a computational model to provide the best feasible solution(s) for minimizing the dispatching delays within a planning horizon. We consider an integrated station dispatching problem that consists of allocating and scheduling platforms and routes for trains at Howrah Station, and we develop a constraint programming (CP)-based approach to model the problem. We show that the delay that the model generates is approximately half the delay currently observed in practice. The solutions have been verified by Howrah Station authority, and the model is being considered for implementation. The novelty of the solution is that it uses a CP-based model for the integrated station dispatching problem and successfully deals with a large station with specific operational protocols.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajnish Kumar & Goutam Sen & Samarjit Kar & Manoj Kumar Tiwari, 2018. "Station Dispatching Problem for a Large Terminal: A Constraint Programming Approach," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 510-528, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:48:y:2018:i:6:p:510-528
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.2018.0950
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/inte.2018.0950
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/inte.2018.0950?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. U. Brännlund & P. O. Lindberg & A. Nõu & J.-E. Nilsson, 1998. "Railway Timetabling Using Lagrangian Relaxation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(4), pages 358-369, November.
    2. Pellegrini, Paola & Marlière, Grégory & Rodriguez, Joaquin, 2014. "Optimal train routing and scheduling for managing traffic perturbations in complex junctions," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 58-80.
    3. Leonardo Lamorgese & Carlo Mannino & Mauro Piacentini, 2016. "Optimal Train Dispatching by Benders’-Like Reformulation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 910-925, August.
    4. G. Caimi & F. Chudak & M. Fuchsberger & M. Laumanns & R. Zenklusen, 2011. "A New Resource-Constrained Multicommodity Flow Model for Conflict-Free Train Routing and Scheduling," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(2), pages 212-227, May.
    5. Leonardo Lamorgese & Carlo Mannino, 2015. "An Exact Decomposition Approach for the Real-Time Train Dispatching Problem," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 48-64, February.
    6. Peter J. Zwaneveld & Leo G. Kroon & H. Edwin Romeijn & Marc Salomon & Stéphane Dauzère-Pérès & Stan P. M. Van Hoesel & Harrie W. Ambergen, 1996. "Routing Trains Through Railway Stations: Model Formulation and Algorithms," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 181-194, August.
    7. Chakroborty, Partha & Vikram, Durgesh, 2008. "Optimum assignment of trains to platforms under partial schedule compliance," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 169-184, February.
    8. Valentina Cacchiani & Alberto Caprara & Matteo Fischetti, 2012. "A Lagrangian Heuristic for Robustness, with an Application to Train Timetabling," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(1), pages 124-133, February.
    9. Carlo Mannino & Alessandro Mascis, 2009. "Optimal Real-Time Traffic Control in Metro Stations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(4), pages 1026-1039, August.
    10. Rodriguez, Joaquín, 2007. "A constraint programming model for real-time train scheduling at junctions," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 231-245, February.
    11. Alberto Caprara & Laura Galli & Paolo Toth, 2011. "Solution of the Train Platforming Problem," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(2), pages 246-257, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leonardo Lamorgese & Carlo Mannino & Mauro Piacentini, 2016. "Optimal Train Dispatching by Benders’-Like Reformulation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(3), pages 910-925, August.
    2. Lamorgese, Leonardo & Mannino, Carlo & Natvig, Erik, 2017. "An exact micro–macro approach to cyclic and non-cyclic train timetabling," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 59-70.
    3. Lu, Gongyuan & Ning, Jia & Liu, Xiaobo & Nie, Yu (Marco), 2022. "Train platforming and rescheduling with flexible interlocking mechanisms: An aggregate approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    4. Sels, P. & Dewilde, T. & Cattrysse, D. & Vansteenwegen, P., 2016. "Reducing the passenger travel time in practice by the automated construction of a robust railway timetable," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 124-156.
    5. Jiateng Yin & Lixing Yang & Andrea D’Ariano & Tao Tang & Ziyou Gao, 2022. "Integrated Backup Rolling Stock Allocation and Timetable Rescheduling with Uncertain Time-Variant Passenger Demand Under Disruptive Events," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 34(6), pages 3234-3258, November.
    6. Zhang, Yongxiang & D'Ariano, Andrea & He, Bisheng & Peng, Qiyuan, 2019. "Microscopic optimization model and algorithm for integrating train timetabling and track maintenance task scheduling," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 237-278.
    7. Samà, Marcella & Pellegrini, Paola & D’Ariano, Andrea & Rodriguez, Joaquin & Pacciarelli, Dario, 2016. "Ant colony optimization for the real-time train routing selection problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 89-108.
    8. Luan, Xiaojie & De Schutter, Bart & Meng, Lingyun & Corman, Francesco, 2020. "Decomposition and distributed optimization of real-time traffic management for large-scale railway networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 72-97.
    9. Gao, Yuan & Kroon, Leo & Yang, Lixing & Gao, Ziyou, 2018. "Three-stage optimization method for the problem of scheduling additional trains on a high-speed rail corridor," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 175-191.
    10. Van Thielen, Sofie & Corman, Francesco & Vansteenwegen, Pieter, 2018. "Considering a dynamic impact zone for real-time railway traffic management," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 39-59.
    11. Sartor, Giorgio & Mannino, Carlo & Nygreen, Thomas & Bach, Lukas, 2023. "A MILP model for quasi-periodic strategic train timetabling," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    12. Lu, Gongyuan & Nie, Yu(Marco) & Liu, Xiaobo & Li, Denghui, 2019. "Trajectory-based traffic management inside an autonomous vehicle zone," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 76-98.
    13. Bettinelli, Andrea & Santini, Alberto & Vigo, Daniele, 2017. "A real-time conflict solution algorithm for the train rescheduling problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 237-265.
    14. Mina Aliakbari & Joseph Geunes, 2022. "Multiple Train Repositioning Operations in a Railyard Network," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 1-31, December.
    15. Zhang, Qin & Lusby, Richard Martin & Shang, Pan & Zhu, Xiaoning, 2022. "A heuristic approach to integrate train timetabling, platforming, and railway network maintenance scheduling decisions," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 210-238.
    16. E. Ursavas & Stuart X. Zhu, 2018. "Integrated Passenger and Freight Train Planning on Shared-Use Corridors," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(6), pages 1376-1390, December.
    17. Nadjla Ghaemi & Oded Cats & Rob M. P. Goverde, 2017. "Railway disruption management challenges and possible solution directions," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 343-364, July.
    18. Kang, Liujiang & Meng, Qiang, 2017. "Two-phase decomposition method for the last train departure time choice in subway networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 568-582.
    19. Zhou, Wenliang & Teng, Hualiang, 2016. "Simultaneous passenger train routing and timetabling using an efficient train-based Lagrangian relaxation decomposition," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 409-439.
    20. Jingliu Xu & Zhimei Wang & Shangjun Yao & Jiarong Xue, 2022. "Train Operations Organization in High-Speed Railway Station Considering Variable Configuration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:48:y:2018:i:6:p:510-528. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.