IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0181165.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A two-stage approach to the depot shunting driver assignment problem with workload balance considerations

Author

Listed:
  • Jiaxi Wang
  • Manfred Gronalt
  • Yan Sun

Abstract

Due to its environmentally sustainable and energy-saving characteristics, railway transportation nowadays plays a fundamental role in delivering passengers and goods. Emerged in the area of transportation planning, the crew (workforce) sizing problem and the crew scheduling problem have been attached great importance by the railway industry and the scientific community. In this paper, we aim to solve the two problems by proposing a novel two-stage optimization approach in the context of the electric multiple units (EMU) depot shunting driver assignment problem. Given a predefined depot shunting schedule, the first stage of the approach focuses on determining an optimal size of shunting drivers. While the second stage is formulated as a bi-objective optimization model, in which we comprehensively consider the objectives of minimizing the total walking distance and maximizing the workload balance. Then we combine the normalized normal constraint method with a modified Pareto filter algorithm to obtain Pareto solutions for the bi-objective optimization problem. Furthermore, we conduct a series of numerical experiments to demonstrate the proposed approach. Based on the computational results, the regression analysis yield a driver size predictor and the sensitivity analysis give some interesting insights that are useful for decision makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiaxi Wang & Manfred Gronalt & Yan Sun, 2017. "A two-stage approach to the depot shunting driver assignment problem with workload balance considerations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0181165
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181165
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181165
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181165&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0181165?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. George J. Beaujon & Mark A. Turnquist, 1991. "A Model for Fleet Sizing and Vehicle Allocation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 19-45, February.
    2. Richard Freling & Ramon M. Lentink & Leo G. Kroon & Dennis Huisman, 2005. "Shunting of Passenger Train Units in a Railway Station," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(2), pages 261-272, May.
    3. Leo G. Kroon & Ramon M. Lentink & Alexander Schrijver, 2008. "Shunting of Passenger Train Units: An Integrated Approach," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 436-449, November.
    4. Verbeek, Peter J., 1991. "Decision support systems -- An application in strategic manpower planning of airline pilots," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 368-381, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kai Kang & Wei Pu & Yanfang Ma & Xiaoyu Wang, 2018. "Bi-objective inventory allocation planning problem with supplier selection and carbon trading under uncertainty," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Martha-Selene Casas-Ramírez & José-Fernando Camacho-Vallejo & Rosa G. González-Ramírez & José-Antonio Marmolejo-Saucedo & José-Manuel Velarde-Cantú, 2018. "Optimizing a Biobjective Production-Distribution Planning Problem Using a GRASP," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-13, February.
    3. Heil, Julia & Hoffmann, Kirsten & Buscher, Udo, 2020. "Railway crew scheduling: Models, methods and applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(2), pages 405-425.
    4. Fei Peng & Xian Fan & Puxin Wang & Mingan Sheng, 2022. "A Time-Space Network-Based Optimization Method for Scheduling Depot Drivers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-19, November.
    5. van Rossum, B.T.C. & Dollevoet, T. & Huisman, D., 2024. "Railway crew planning with fairness over time," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 318(1), pages 55-70.

    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. Christian Artigues & Eric Bourreau & Vincent Jost & Safia Kedad-Sidhoum & François Ramond, 2018. "Trains do not vanish: the ROADEF/EURO challenge 2014," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 271(2), pages 1091-1105, December.
    2. Nils Boysen & Malte Fliedner & Florian Jaehn & Erwin Pesch, 2013. "A Survey on Container Processing in Railway Yards," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(3), pages 312-329, August.
    3. Haahr, Jørgen & Lusby, Richard M., 2017. "Integrating rolling stock scheduling with train unit shunting," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 259(2), pages 452-468.
    4. Li Lei & Raymond S K Kwan & Zhiyuan Lin & Pedro J Copado-Mendez, 2022. "Resolution of coupling order and station level constraints in train unit scheduling," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 27-61, March.
    5. Haahr, J.T. & Lusby, R.M. & Wagenaar, J.C., 2015. "A Comparison of Optimization Methods for Solving the Depot Matching and Parking Problem," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2015-013-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    6. Haahr, Jørgen Thorlund & Lusby, Richard M. & Wagenaar, Joris Camiel, 2017. "Optimization methods for the Train Unit Shunting Problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 262(3), pages 981-995.
    7. Boysen, Nils & Fliedner, Malte & Jaehn, Florian & Pesch, Erwin, 2012. "Shunting yard operations: Theoretical aspects and applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 220(1), pages 1-14.
    8. Peiling Wu & Joseph C. Hartman & George R. Wilson, 2005. "An Integrated Model and Solution Approach for Fleet Sizing with Heterogeneous Assets," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 87-103, February.
    9. José Carbajal & Alan Erera & Martin Savelsbergh, 2013. "Balancing fleet size and repositioning costs in LTL trucking," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 203(1), pages 235-254, March.
    10. Kochel, Peter & Kunze, Sophie & Nielander, Ulf, 2003. "Optimal control of a distributed service system with moving resources: Application to the fleet sizing and allocation problem," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 443-459, January.
    11. Ruf, Moritz & Cordeau, Jean-François, 2021. "Adaptive large neighborhood search for integrated planning in railroad classification yards," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 26-51.
    12. Oliveira, Beatriz Brito & Carravilla, Maria Antónia & Oliveira, José Fernando & Toledo, Franklina M.B., 2014. "A relax-and-fix-based algorithm for the vehicle-reservation assignment problem in a car rental company," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(2), pages 729-737.
    13. D-P Song, 2007. "Characterizing optimal empty container reposition policy in periodic-review shuttle service systems," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(1), pages 122-133, January.
    14. Lin, Zhiyuan & Kwan, Raymond S.K., 2016. "A branch-and-price approach for solving the train unit scheduling problem," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 97-120.
    15. Klosterhalfen, S.T. & Kallrath, J. & Fischer, G., 2014. "Rail car fleet design: Optimization of structure and size," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 112-119.
    16. Boysen, Nils & Emde, Simon, 2016. "The parallel stack loading problem to minimize blockages," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(2), pages 618-627.
    17. Kallrath, J. & Klosterhalfen, S.T. & Walter, M. & Fischer, G. & Blackburn, R., 2017. "Payload-based fleet optimization for rail cars in the chemical industry," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 259(1), pages 113-129.
    18. George, David K. & Xia, Cathy H., 2011. "Fleet-sizing and service availability for a vehicle rental system via closed queueing networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 198-207, May.
    19. Budai-Balke, G. & Maróti, G. & Dekker, R. & Huisman, D. & Kroon, L.G., 2007. "Re-scheduling in railways: the rolling stock balancing problem," Econometric Institute Research Papers EI 2007-21, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Econometric Institute.
    20. Hanif D. Sherali & Lawrence W. Maguire, 2000. "Determining Rail Fleet Sizes for Shipping Automobiles," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 80-90, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0181165. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.