TY - UNPB

T1 - From Air to Rail

T2 - A Unified Approach for Capacity Allocation on Transportation Networks

AU - Berktas, Nihal

AU - Zografos, K. G.

PY - 2024/7/30

Y1 - 2024/7/30

N2 - The capacity allocation problem in transportation networks involves managing limited resources, such as airports, stations, tracks, and ports, to meet the demands of various users like airlines, rail operators, or shipping companies. These resources are finite and demand often exceeds available capacity, necessitating an efficient allocation process that adheres to operational and regulatory constraints and requirements. Motivated by the similarities across capacity allocation problems in different transportation modes and the lack of a unifying framework, this study introduces a generic mathematical formulation and demonstrates its applicability through a detailed model and computational results for rail networks. The generic mathematical model is a generalization of models highly utilized in airport slot allocation. We explicitly present how the model applies to the train timetabling problem and conduct computational experiments using publicly available. Our aggregate analysis shows that the model consistently achieves optimal solutions across almost all computational experiments, including instances where published solutions are suboptimal. Disaggregate analysis conducted on a specific instance indicates that station capacity constraints has a minor impact, while modifications to the flexibility of arrival and departure times significantly changes the structure of solutions.

AB - The capacity allocation problem in transportation networks involves managing limited resources, such as airports, stations, tracks, and ports, to meet the demands of various users like airlines, rail operators, or shipping companies. These resources are finite and demand often exceeds available capacity, necessitating an efficient allocation process that adheres to operational and regulatory constraints and requirements. Motivated by the similarities across capacity allocation problems in different transportation modes and the lack of a unifying framework, this study introduces a generic mathematical formulation and demonstrates its applicability through a detailed model and computational results for rail networks. The generic mathematical model is a generalization of models highly utilized in airport slot allocation. We explicitly present how the model applies to the train timetabling problem and conduct computational experiments using publicly available. Our aggregate analysis shows that the model consistently achieves optimal solutions across almost all computational experiments, including instances where published solutions are suboptimal. Disaggregate analysis conducted on a specific instance indicates that station capacity constraints has a minor impact, while modifications to the flexibility of arrival and departure times significantly changes the structure of solutions.

M3 - Preprint

BT - From Air to Rail

PB - SSRN Working Paper

ER -