IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/flsman/v30y2018i3d10.1007_s10696-016-9275-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intermodal network design: a three-mode bi-objective model applied to the case of Belgium

Author

Listed:
  • Martine Mostert

    (University of Liege)

  • An Caris

    (Hasselt University)

  • Sabine Limbourg

    (University of Liege)

Abstract

Freight transport planning is nowadays encouraged to align with environmental objectives. Among those, climate change is of particular interest for many countries. In its White Paper on Transport, the European Commission considers intermodal transport as a potential solution for reducing environmental impacts. In order to make good strategic transport decisions, realistic decision support models for freight transport networks must be developed, so that insights can be derived for the different stakeholders of the transportation chain. This research proposes a bi-objective mathematical formulation which takes into account economic and environmental objectives, on a road and intermodal network with three modes of transport (road, intermodal rail, and intermodal inland waterways), and in which economies of scale of intermodal transport can be considered. With this model better fitting reality, an application to the Belgian case study provides practical information on how flows, terminal types and locations vary depending on the chosen policy, on the integration or not of economies of scale, on costs or emissions modifications and on the number of terminals to locate. Results show that the chosen policy influences the terminal type and the intermodal market share. The study also highlights the interest of intermodal transport on short distances, and the risk of flow exchanges inside the intermodal market share, rather than between road and intermodal transport.

Suggested Citation

  • Martine Mostert & An Caris & Sabine Limbourg, 2018. "Intermodal network design: a three-mode bi-objective model applied to the case of Belgium," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 397-420, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:flsman:v:30:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10696-016-9275-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10696-016-9275-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10696-016-9275-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10696-016-9275-1?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Limbourg, S. & Jourquin, B., 2009. "Optimal rail-road container terminal locations on the European network," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 551-563, July.
    2. Macharis, Cathy & Pekin, Ethem, 2009. "Assessing policy measures for the stimulation of intermodal transport: a GIS-based policy analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 500-508.
    3. Zhang, M. & Janic, M. & Tavasszy, L.A., 2015. "A freight transport optimization model for integrated network, service, and policy design," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 61-76.
    4. Janic, Milan, 2008. "An assessment of the performance of the European long intermodal freight trains (LIFTS)," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 1326-1339, December.
    5. Macharis, Cathy & Van Hoeck, Ellen & Pekin, Ethem & van Lier, Tom, 2010. "A decision analysis framework for intermodal transport: Comparing fuel price increases and the internalisation of external costs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 550-561, August.
    6. Chen, Gang & Govindan, Kannan & Golias, Mihalis M., 2013. "Reducing truck emissions at container terminals in a low carbon economy: Proposal of a queueing-based bi-objective model for optimizing truck arrival pattern," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 3-22.
    7. Alumur, Sibel & Kara, Bahar Y., 2008. "Network hub location problems: The state of the art," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 190(1), pages 1-21, October.
    8. Alf Kimms, 2006. "Economies of Scale in Hub & Spoke Network Design Models: We Have It All Wrong," Springer Books, in: Martin Morlock & Christoph Schwindt & Norbert Trautmann & Jürgen Zimmermann (ed.), Perspectives on Operations Research, pages 293-317, Springer.
    9. Ghane-Ezabadi, Mohammad & Vergara, Hector A., 2016. "Decomposition approach for integrated intermodal logistics network design," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 53-69.
    10. Ernst, Andreas T. & Krishnamoorthy, Mohan, 1998. "Exact and heuristic algorithms for the uncapacitated multiple allocation p-hub median problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 100-112, January.
    11. Bontekoning, Y. M. & Macharis, C. & Trip, J. J., 2004. "Is a new applied transportation research field emerging?--A review of intermodal rail-truck freight transport literature," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-34, January.
    12. Macharis, C. & Bontekoning, Y. M., 2004. "Opportunities for OR in intermodal freight transport research: A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(2), pages 400-416, March.
    13. Martine Mostert & Sabine Limbourg, 2016. "External Costs as Competitiveness Factors for Freight Transport — A State of the Art," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(6), pages 692-712, November.
    14. Racunica, Illia & Wynter, Laura, 2005. "Optimal location of intermodal freight hubs," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 453-477, June.
    15. SteadieSeifi, M. & Dellaert, N.P. & Nuijten, W. & Van Woensel, T. & Raoufi, R., 2014. "Multimodal freight transportation planning: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 233(1), pages 1-15.
    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. Shima Taheri & Mohammad Tamannaei, 2023. "Integrated Multi-Level Intermodal Network Design Problem: A Sustainable Approach, Based on Competition of Rail and Road Transportation Systems," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-37, March.
    2. Sina Mohri, Seyed & Thompson, Russell, 2022. "Designing sustainable intermodal freight transportation networks using a controlled rail tariff discounting policy – The Iranian case," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 59-77.
    3. Rizwan Shoukat & Zhang Xiaoqiang, 2024. "The green and economical supply of coated board with intermodal distribution: an implementation of novel evolutionary algorithm," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1-34, June.
    4. Justin Fraselle & Sabine Louise Limbourg & Laura Vidal, 2021. "Cost and Environmental Impacts of a Mixed Fleet of Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-16, August.
    5. Paul Tae-Woo Lee & Oh Kyoung Kwon & Xiao Ruan, 2019. "Sustainability Challenges in Maritime Transport and Logistics Industry and Its Way Ahead," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-9, March.
    6. Bing Han & Shanshan Shi & Haotian Gao & Yan Hu, 2022. "A Sustainable Intermodal Location-Routing Optimization Approach: A Case Study of the Bohai Rim Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-27, March.

    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. Sina Mohri, Seyed & Thompson, Russell, 2022. "Designing sustainable intermodal freight transportation networks using a controlled rail tariff discounting policy – The Iranian case," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 59-77.
    2. Qian Dai & Jiaqi Yang & Dong Li, 2018. "Modeling a Three-Mode Hybrid Port-Hinterland Freight Intermodal Distribution Network with Environmental Consideration: The Case of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, August.
    3. Dan Liu & Zhenghong Deng & Qipeng Sun & Yong Wang & Yinhai Wang, 2019. "Design and Freight Corridor-Fleet Size Choice in Collaborative Intermodal Transportation Network Considering Economies of Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Ishfaq, Rafay & Sox, Charles R., 2011. "Hub location-allocation in intermodal logistic networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 210(2), pages 213-230, April.
    5. Ghane-Ezabadi, Mohammad & Vergara, Hector A., 2016. "Decomposition approach for integrated intermodal logistics network design," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 53-69.
    6. Christine Tawfik & Sabine Limbourg, 2018. "Pricing Problems in Intermodal Freight Transport: Research Overview and Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Dhyani, Sneha & Jayaswal, Sachin & Sinha, Ankur & Vidyarthi, Navneet, 2019. "Alternate Second Order Conic Programming Reformulations for Hub Location with Capacity Selection under Demand," IIMA Working Papers WP 2018-12-04, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    8. Zhang, M. & Pel, A.J., 2016. "Synchromodal hinterland freight transport: Model study for the port of Rotterdam," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Alumur, Sibel A. & Yaman, Hande & Kara, Bahar Y., 2012. "Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem with time-definite deliveries," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1107-1120.
    10. Alumur, Sibel A. & Kara, Bahar Y. & Karasan, Oya E., 2012. "Multimodal hub location and hub network design," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 927-939.
    11. Bart Wiegmans & Behzad Behdani, 2018. "A review and analysis of the investment in, and cost structure of, intermodal rail terminals," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 33-51, January.
    12. Ralf Elbert & Lowis Seikowsky, 2017. "The influences of behavioral biases, barriers and facilitators on the willingness of forwarders’ decision makers to modal shift from unimodal road freight transport to intermodal road–rail freight tra," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(8), pages 1083-1123, November.
    13. Teye, Collins & Bell, Michael G.H. & Bliemer, Michiel C.J., 2017. "Entropy maximising facility location model for port city intermodal terminals," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 1-16.
    14. Alumur, Sibel A. & Campbell, James F. & Contreras, Ivan & Kara, Bahar Y. & Marianov, Vladimir & O’Kelly, Morton E., 2021. "Perspectives on modeling hub location problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 291(1), pages 1-17.
    15. Joris Wagenaar & Ioannis Fragkos & Rob Zuidwijk, 2021. "Integrated Planning for Multimodal Networks with Disruptions and Customer Service Requirements," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 196-221, 1-2.
    16. Meng, Qiang & Wang, Xinchang, 2011. "Intermodal hub-and-spoke network design: Incorporating multiple stakeholders and multi-type containers," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 724-742, May.
    17. Jiahao Zhao & Xiaoning Zhu & Li Wang, 2020. "Study on Scheme of Outbound Railway Container Organization in Rail-Water Intermodal Transportation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, February.
    18. de Sá, Elisangela Martins & de Camargo, Ricardo Saraiva & de Miranda, Gilberto, 2013. "An improved Benders decomposition algorithm for the tree of hubs location problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(2), pages 185-202.
    19. Archetti, Claudia & Peirano, Lorenzo & Speranza, M. Grazia, 2022. "Optimization in multimodal freight transportation problems: A Survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 299(1), pages 1-20.
    20. Ishfaq, Rafay & Sox, Charles R., 2012. "Design of intermodal logistics networks with hub delays," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 220(3), pages 629-641.

    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:spr:flsman:v:30:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s10696-016-9275-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.