The paper addresses the scheduled service network design problem for freight rail transportation. The proposed model integrates service selection and scheduling, car classification and blocking, train make up, and routing of time-dependent customer shipments, based on a cyclic three-layer space-time network representation of the associated operations and decisions, their relations and time dime...

This article presents a novel genetic algorithm designed for the solution of the Crew Scheduling Problem (CSP) in the rail-freight industry. CSP is the task of assigning drivers to a sequence of train trips while ensuring that no driver’s schedule exceeds the permitted working hours, that each driver starts and finishes their day’s work at the same location, and that no train routes are left wi...

The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not represent the views of ECMT or those of its Member countries.

Intermodal transport is an efficient solution for reducing greenhouse gases of freight transport but it requires intermodal terminals, where the transfer between modes can occur. The location of these terminals is a key factor for achieving economic and environmental competitiveness. A bi-objective model for the intermodal terminal location-allocation problem is developed. The focus is on road ...

The 21st century will see a renewed focus on intermodal freight transportation driven by the changing requirements of global supply chains. Each of the transportation modes (air, inland water, ocean, pipeline, rail, and road) has gone through technological evolution and has functioned separately under a modally based regulatory structure for most of the 20th century. With the development of con...