Scheduling exam timetables for large modular courses is a complex problem which often has to be solved in university departments. This is usually donèby hand', taking several days or weeks of iterative repair after feedback from students complaining that the timetable is unfair to them in some way. We describe an eeective solution to this problem involving the use of an appropriately conngured ...

The Netherlands has an intricate network of railway tracks to connect its many closely situated cities. Recently, the railroad timetable has been completely updated. Unlike the yearly manual adjustments of the past, this update was done using mathematical techniques. For the Dutch public, this was a rare opportunity to come into contact with mathematics. The research that resulted in the new ti...

This paper studies the disruption management problem of rapid transit rail networks. Besides optimizing the timetable and the rolling stock schedules, we explicitly deal with the effects of the disruption on the passenger demand. We propose a two-step approach that combines an integrated optimization model (for the timetable and rolling stock) with a model for the passengers' behavior. We repor...

We give an overview of models and efficient algorithms for optimally solving timetable information problems like “given a departure and an arrival station as well as a departure time, which is the connection that arrives as early as possible at the arrival station?” Two main approaches that transform the problems into shortest path problems are reviewed, including issues like the modeling of re...

This paper deals with control of transportation systems. We propose an approach based on dioid theory to compute timetables of a transportation network. We generalize the problem by considering additional constraints for the control objective. Copyright c ©2006 IFAC

The aim of this paper is to analyze and to improve the current planning process of the passenger railway service. At first, the state-of-the-art in research is presented. Given the recent changes in legislature allowing competitors to enter the railway industry in Europe, also known as liberalization of railways, the current way of planning does not reflect the situation anymore. The original p...

Timetabling problem is among the most difficult operational tasks and an important step in raising industrial productivity, capability, capacity. Such are usually tackled using metaheuristics techniques that provide intelligent way of suggesting solutions or decision-making. Swarm intelligence including Particle Optimization (PSO) have proved to be effective examples. Different recent experimen...