Abstract
China Rail Express (CRE) is the international container train line that runs between China and Europe. Since the implementation of China’s Belt and Road initiative, CRE has developed rapidly. As most CRE trains travel directly from source to destination without load consolidation, CRE faces issues such as an insufficient cargo supply, a low load factor, and a low profit margin. To address these problems, we analyzed the selection of potential consolidation centers and the optimization of consolidation routes to these centers from the perspective of complex network evolution. First, we constructed rules for generation and evolution of the complex network. Next, we generated logistics connection topology networks for CRE from 2013 to 2017 using those rules. We then optimized the consolidation routes based on the network structures formed from those rules. Chongqing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Lanzhou, Urumqi, and Tianjin were selected as potential consolidation centers. We conclude with a sensitivity analyses and a discussion of management implications for CRE.
Highlights
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious program to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks. e initiative aims to improve regional integration, thereby increasing trade and stimulating economic growth
Consolidation centers are selected and each branch line train travels to these centers, where its cargo is consolidated with cargo from other trains before transportation along a trunk line. us, it forms a complex transportation network. is kind of hybrid HS network is more suited to the needs of China Rail Express (CRE)
We combined two innovations: a hybrid hub-and-spoke network (CRECN) and genetic algorithms to identify optimal consolidation centers capable of reducing total transportation costs and optimizing the network’s e ciency. is allowed a time series analysis rather than the cross-sectional analysis performed in most previous studies
Summary
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious program to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks. e initiative aims to improve regional integration, thereby increasing trade and stimulating economic growth. Both in theory and in practice, choosing suitable consolidation centers that can support continuous evolution of the CRE logistics network is a thorny problem To address this problem, we analyzed two issues in the present study: (1) How should the CRECN form and evolve? Most previous studies have used mixed-integer programming methods to solve the problem of selecting locations for consolidation centers, and assumed that all nodes were fully connected, while ignoring the actual characteristics of the network structure and the issue of accessibility between nodes (i.e., whether an e cient path exists between pairs of nodes). Jeong et al [22] studied the HS network transportation problem for railway freight, and formulated a linear integer programming model whose objective function included both the typical operating cost and the costs due to transit time.
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