Freight Services Research Articles

The Train Paths Selection Model of Express Freight Train Based on the Entire Transportation Time

Express freight train occupies an important position in the railway freight transportation market due to its stable transportation process and good timeliness. In order to ensure the transportation stability and timeliness of express freight trains, the selection of train paths is an extremely important procedure. A scientific and reasonable selection method of train paths is a necessary guarantee for express freight trains to ex ert their unique advantages as freight products, and influences the quality of freight services and economic benefits. The train timetable was transformed into a space-time network. With the minimum entire transportation time as the optimization objective, and the influence factors of train trip time, transit time in the stations and freight transit period as constraints, a train paths selection model of express freight trains was constructed. The model can realize the reasonable selection of train paths. Finally, an example was given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the model and provide a theoretical basis for the railway operation department.

The Effect of Trust and Service Quality on Customer Loyalty of Goods Delivery Services

This study aims to determine how the influence of trust and service quality on customer loyalty of PT. Tiki Jalur Nugraha Ekakurir (PT. JNE). This research was conducted on customers who have used freight forwarding services in JNE, located at Jl. Pajajaran 17B, Malang City with the number of respondents taken using accidental sampling techniques so that the number of respondents was 100 people. Data collection using questionnaires and data measurement used is the Likert scale. The test instruments in this study were validity and reliability tests, and for data analysis techniques used classical assumption tests, multiple linear regression analysis and hypothesis testing. The results of this study can be seen that there is a positive and significant partial influence between trust and service quality on customer loyalty. The simultaneous influence of the variable trust and service quality has a significant and positive effect on customer loyalty of PT. Tiki Jalur Nugraha Ekakurir.

Mutual Gains from Eurasian Railway Connectivity

This paper analyzes the relationship between Eurasian rail services (especially the China–EU services that have flourished since 2011) and the overland “Belt” part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The initial market-driven stimulus was from car and electronics firms linking their East Asian and European production networks, and the establishment of Eurasian value chains remains an important theme. As regular rail freight services between China and Europe became more frequent, between more termini and offering more ancillary services, trade costs were reduced along the BRI Belt with mutual benefits for Asian and European countries. The paper first documents the growth and current status of the overland rail freight services; the sound economic foundation for the rail services and the continued growth of traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic indicate the sustainability of this part of the BRI. It then discusses the relationship of the Eurasian rail services to the wider BRI, emphasizing the importance of multiple routes and of connections to ports. Finally, the paper reviews the literature on the economic gains from improved rail connectivity and on the relationship between hard and soft infrastructure. The principal conclusion is that market-driven commercial incentives, public policies and the BRI have contributed to the success of the Belt mainlines and links to Indian Ocean ports are expected to integrate the currently separate Belt and Road.

Impact of high-speed rail on the operational capacity of conventional rail in China

Although many studies have evaluated the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) development on transportation connectivity and accessibility, it remains unclear to what extent the introduction of HSR may influence the operational capacities of freight and conventional passenger rail services. This paper addresses this question by examining the spatial and temporal variations of transport capacities of different rail systems. In addition, the interaction effects of different rail systems were investigated using a structural equation model. The results reveal that the spatial and temporal evolution of operational capacity varies significantly among freight, conventional passenger, and high-speed passenger rail systems. Moreover, HSR was found to have a substitutional effect on conventional passenger rail, although the effects vary spatially in different corridors. Furthermore, the operational capacity of conventional passenger rail is negatively associated with that of freight rail, which confirms that a service cut in conventional passenger rail contributes to an increase in the capacity of freight rail. The analysis also demonstrates that HSR promotes the expansion of freight rail capacity through its substitutional effect on conventional passenger rail. These findings provide important implications for transportation planners to optimize operational plans, in order to improve the performance of various rail services.

Freight delivery services in urban areas: Monitoring accessibility from vehicle traces and road network modelling

Local Authorities plays a fundamental role in the management of city mobility and in accounting for the needs of different stakeholders involved in the urban freight transport. The aim of this study is to develop a method that could support the evaluation of the city accessibility for freight distribution services. As Local Authorities can use floating vehicle data (FVD), which are a current trend in mobility management, gaining new knowledge from data could be crucial to help the various stakeholders to better address their needs. Accessibility in urban areas is investigated through travel time estimations along the most frequently used routes connecting relevant nodes of the city and their average speed using a simplified road network model. After the description of the principal elements of the method, a test case is also presented for the urban area of Turin, Italy, to demonstrate the applicability of the procedures on a real scenario and dataset. The results confirm, also through the use of skim matrices, the value of FVD in assessing the accessibility of different zones interested in delivery operations, which may change over time, providing monitoring functions to urban logistics operators and Local Authorities in managing urban freight flows.

Evaluation Of Passenger Services In White Water Flight Port, Bengkalis District, Riau Province

Based on their activities, ports in Riau Province have goals and objectives for improving freight and passenger services. The existence of these Riau ports has an impact on improving Indonesia's economy. Therefore, ferry transportation is important in the Riau Province because it connects with the surrounding area and also to help economic development which of course requires facilities and infrastructure to support the smooth running of people's daily activities. The Air Putih Ferry Port in Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province, serves the Air Putih - Sei Selari route. For this reason, it is necessary to provide services in accordance with statutory regulations in order to carry out good port activities. However, in fact there are still several indicators of service to passengers that are not in accordance with the provisions. Based on these conditions, the authors conducted a literature study on the problems found at the port. Then an analysis is carried out using a method in order to obtain the results of the analysis as well as the problem solving suggestions. The method used to analyze the existing problems is the calculation of the level of conformity of passenger service standards with existing conditions. This method is carried out with the support of surveys related to services to passengers at the port. After that the results of this method will be analyzed with the level of conformity with the Minister of Transportation Regulation No. 39 of 2015. After that obtained the results of the analysis along with the suggestions for solving the problem. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that there are still services and facilities that are still lacking at the White Water Crossing Port. The percentage of the appropriate aspects is 33.33% while the remaining 66.66% is not suitable.

Statistical analysis of departure deviations from shunting yards: Case study from Swedish railways

Departure deviations from shunting yards impact the reliability of rail freight services and the punctuality of a railway network. Therefore, the statistical analysis of these deviations are necessary for improving the operation of trains in mixed-traffic networks. In our paper, we conduct a detailed statistical analysis of departure deviations considering individual shunting yards characteristics. We use a large freight train delay dataset comprising 250,000 departures over seven years for the two largest shunting yards in Sweden, comparable to other medium-sized shunting yards in Europe. To find the probability distribution of departure deviations, we compare four distribution functions including the exponential, the log-normal, the gamma, and the Weibull according to the maximum likelihood estimates and results of the Anderson-Darling goodness of fit test. In our experiments, we show that the log-normal distribution fits best for delayed departures across both shunting yards, and for early departures at one of them, whereas the gamma distribution fits best for early departures at the other yard. For the temporal delay distribution, we find that fluctuations in the network usage impact the percentage of delayed departures across hours and weekdays, but not across months or years. In addition, we find that freight trains are mostly delayed in the winter. In the case of hourly delayed departures, we demonstrate that a shunting yard involved with domestic traffic showed a negative correlation between delayed departures and the network usage, whereas an international shunting yard did not, which indicates individuality in shunting yard operations impact shunting yard-network interactions. Our findings mainly contribute to better understanding of departure deviations from shunting yards, thus enhancing the operations and capacity utilization of shunting yards. Moreover, delay distributions can be beneficial in handling delays in traffic management models as well as enhancing the outputs of freight train simulation models.

Dynamic Pricing Can Help Companies for International Road Transportation Survive COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis

The main goal of this article is to reveal the advantages of dynamic pricing implementation in the international transportation of cargo by road. It will be clarified what dynamic pricing is and under what conditions and in what business areas it is suitable to be applied. The fluctuation in demand of freight services will be observed as well as its impact on price and the revenues of transportation companies. Comparisons will be made of the company revenues in case it uses dynamic prices or sticks to static tariffs. Finally, conclusions will be reached for company efficiency according to its choice of pricing strategy.

Prospective Clustering Models of Small-Town Systems into Small Agglomerations

In the context of self-isolation and restrictions of vehicles mobility, a widespread trend on economic digitalization primarily manifested itself in a transition to remote working and learning regimes. Crisis conditions cause a threat to the development of agglomerations of small towns which appeared thanks to the diurnal commuting migration of the workforce to the economic centers of such agglomerations. In this respect, the article provides an overview of systemic factors of inclusion of small towns’ human resources aimed at mitigating the risk of a mass exodus of young people from such towns and their consequential depopulation in countries and regions subject to this risk. Taking into account a ubiquitous increase in the level of computer literacy among young people, it is feasible to actively develop online learning in many demanded professions and include them in production processes in a remote regime. To do this, production processes should be organized on the principle of technology clusters distributed in small agglomerations of towns tied to a large production center while commuting migration of workforce should be replaced with freight services provided to the local branches of a large production enterprise. This approach is supposed to develop a new type of agglomerations where people can live and work in the same small towns while the interconnection between these towns is carried out through the migration of goods tied to one basic enterprise in the middle of such an agglomeration. The size of such an agglomeration can exceed the former types of urban entities because freight vehicles are not as limited by strict time frameworks as workforce transportation to the workplaces.

Substantiation of expediency of the complex approach for supply chains management in the COVID-19 conditions

The transformations of management approaches to global supply chain management under the influence of a pandemic were analyzed. Key barriers to supply chain development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have been identified: non-diversification of supply chains; instability of the logistic activity organization; stretched supply chains; lack of flexibility and a single information space for all sections of global logistics networks; the dominant role of China as a "world factory". Based on the analysis of development indicators of global supply chains dynamics new trends and patterns for the post pandemic period were revealed. While transparency from start to finish (end-to-end). The application of new technologies to ensure the transparency of supply chains was considered. Peculiarities and tendencies of supply chain development in Ukraine were researched. The expediency of applying an integrated approach to supply chain management taking into account global economic changes substantiated. The directions of transformation of global logistics networks determined in the post coronavirus epoch among them we can note the following: increasing the volume of special air cargo transportation – airlines are already redeploying the fleet for exceptional air freight services; increasing the number of cargo inspections and border control protocols; intensification of the introduction of digital technologies and e-commerce; reconfiguration of global chains.

The Role of Soil Stabilisation in Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change in Transport Infrastructure with Reference to Wetting Processes

Cost efficient and robust transport systems are of critical importance to future economic prosperity as well as for the society’s social and environmental well-being. However, current performance shortcomings in the transport infrastructure formations induced by extreme climatic events cause excessive maintenance requirements with increased costs and disruptions to commuters and loss of productivity in the freight services. This is particularly important in locations where soils are sensitive to moisture changes caused by extreme climatic events. In this paper the role of soil stabilisation in halting volumetric deformation and associated reduction in shear strength derived from the wetting processes (e.g., rainfall periods) is examined for an expansive soil. Two stabilizers commonly used in road construction are examined, i.e., hydrated lime and Portland cement. An additional non-traditional stabiliser composed of a blend of ground granulated blast furnace slag and hydrated lime is also considered. A series of one-dimensional swelling and direct shear box tests were conducted adopting vertical stresses relevant for pavements and simulate wetting process that can take place after a period of rainfall. Results indicate that while all stabilizers contribute to a reduction of swelling and smaller losses in shear strength upon wetting, the blend of blast furnace slag and hydrated lime is the most favourable in terms of carbon footprint.

Urban rail service design for collaborative passenger and freight transport

This paper develops an operational strategy in which urban rail transit is used for freight transport. An environment-friendly urban freight transportation alternative is analyzed by employing optimization techniques to support the collaborative transportation of passengers and freight. Practical cases are investigated to test the technical feasibility of this transportation scheme. The paper formulates the train service design problem on a single urban rail line with passenger and freight. Passenger trains have a prescribed timetable which is allowed to be slightly modified to facilitate the freight service. Freight can be transported by inserting dedicated freight trains or utilizing the extra space inside the passenger train carriages. Station platforms are able to load and unload both goods and passengers. An optimization model for combined train service design is proposed to maximize profit resulting from the balance of revenues and costs brought by the freight service. The efficient schedules of trains and freight allocation plans are to be determined. This problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model. An iterative scheduling approach which includes a pre-processing method and two heuristic iterative algorithms is designed to solve the model. Two numerical examples are introduced to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed model and the iterative scheduling approach.

Обеспечение качества, надёжности и безопасности верхнего строения пути на железнодорожном транспорте

The article deals with the problems of quality management, reliability and safety at railway transport infrastructure facilities, from the standpoint of quality management and reliability theory, to ensure the quality and safety of transport services for the consumer. A method for managing the quality and safety of the upper structure of the track is proposed based on monitoring the fiow of failures and recoveries, using an automated system for accounting and analyzing the reliability of transport infrastructure facilities. An example of the implementation of the developed methods on Aksakov track Kuibyshev infrastructure Directorate of JSC «Russian Railways», which leads to the improvement of the quality and reliability of freight and passenger rail services to the consumer on the track.

Анализ и оценка рисков опасных отказов верхнего строения пути на железнодорожном транспорте

The article deals with the problems of quality management, reliability and safety at railway transport infrastructure facilities, from the standpoint of quality management and reliability theory, to ensure the quality and safety of transport services for the consumer. A method for managing the quality and safety of the upper structure of the track is proposed based on monitoring the fiow of failures and recoveries, using an automated system for accounting and analyzing the reliability of transport infrastructure facilities. An example of the implementation of the developed methods on Aksakov track Kuibyshev infrastructure Directorate of JSC «Russian Railways», which leads to the improvement of the quality and reliability of freight and passenger rail services to the consumer on the track.

Sustainable development of Vietnam's transportation from analysis of car freight management

The hot growth about the number of companies, the vehicles, and the variety of the business model of freight services in general, the road freight, in particular, have cooked up big challenges for business activities of transport companies. Faced with the need for sustainable development and improving the efficiency of the national transportation system, research on strengthening state management of car transportation in Vietnam is very urgent. The paper focuses on analysing and evaluating the current state of state management about the goods freight by cars, proposing radical solutions to strengthen state management to get the goals of sustainable development of the transport and the freight transport industry. Based on data collected from actual surveys, interviews, and published research, the author has analysed the overall performance of state management in car freight transport. With the number of 1227 sending feedback votes, it is a reliable basis for analysing, assessing the current situation, and clarifying the limitations, weaknesses, and causes in the management of freight transport in Vietnam.

An Insight into the Indian Railways COVID-19 Combat

Coronavirus pandemic has affected many lives, and several rigid rules and policies had to be implemented across the globe to curb the spread of the disease. A nation-wide lockdown was announced on March 22, 2020, in India to curb the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID – 19) pandemic. The entire nation was brought to a standstill with only the essential services running. The pandemic had put many of the organizations on the moratorium, especially the travel industry. Indian Railways were no exception to it. But they have risen to the occasion to stand strong with the nation. The efficient disaster management planning of the Indian railways has helped them to fight the battle bravely. Though the passenger trains were brought to a halt in the initial lockdown period, the freight services were functional, carrying out essential duties during the lockdown. From manufacturing and distribution of PPE kits, transportation of essential commodities, service from medical warriors, Indian Railways has taken all the possible steps in the nation's fight against the pandemic. This article focuses on the COVID-19 guidelines followed by the Indian Railways and their noble work during the COVID-19 national crisis for the wellbeing of employees, passengers, and the general public by using secondary data such as journals, newspapers, magazines, and memorandums.

Designing a Geo-Strategic Railway Freight Network in Brazil Using GIS

The sustainable development of geo-strategic transport networks plays a key role to meet the current expansion of the demand for commerce and economic growth. In this paper, a new geo-strategic railway network for freight services is designed with the purpose of meeting the needs of current and future demands for freight transport in the state of Santa Catarina, South Brazil. The freight flows of bulk cargo, containers, and refrigerated and liquid cargo observed in 2005 and 2015 and expected for 2023 have been analyzed and assigned to a fully connected railway network. The number of trains to meet all the demands has been identified. The links that would have a minimum number of daily trains running on them have also been identified and analyzed. New assignments are proposed and visualized using GIS. Next, location and technical specifications of specialized intermodal terminals focused on the customers’ and operators’ needs are discussed. The study shows that technological specifications for terminal operations play an important role when dealing with multiple freight types and contribute to better use of the existing infrastructure.

Modelling the marine transport resilience of Vancouver Island in a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake scenario

ABSTRACT The dependence of coastal communities on marine transportation can challenge a region’s capability to withstand large disruptions, especially in regions susceptible to large natural hazards. Here, a process is presented to model and simulate marine transport earthquake resilience for coastal communities. The model is created using the Graph Model for Operational Resilience. The approach includes the interdependent relationships of different infrastructure sectors and allows for estimation of recovery timelines following disruption. A case-study application in Southern British Columbia, Canada for freight and public transportation ferry service between mainland Vancouver and Vancouver Island is presented. The disruption scenario used in this case study is a magnitude nine Cascadia subduction zone earthquake. The step-by-step recovery timeline produced by the model can provide stakeholders with a concrete example of how recovery could unfold for their operations. The case-study results indicate that berth infrastructure recovery is often the key limiting factor for terminal recovery.

Customers’ preferences for freight service attributes of China Railway Express

Abstract China Railway Express (CRE) is one of the most important constituent parts of the Belt and Road Initiative. Freight demand analysis is fundamental as a basis for the operational strategy of CRE and the investment policy along the CRE-routes. Most of the existing relevant literature has focused on the organization of the train operations of CRE, with little research related to demand analysis. This paper contributes to filling this gap by estimating customers’ demand preferences for rail freight service attributes, by using a novel multi-criteria decision-analysis (MCDA) method namely Best-Worst Method (BWM). To this end, a BWM survey was conducted in China to capture customers’ preferences for the main attributes that define the transport service offered by CRE. Two variants of BWM, the linear and the Bayesian, are employed for the analysis. Reliability is suggested as the most important attribute for CRE to focus on, to gain customers. We also conduct a cluster analysis based on the results, which helps the CRE operator to identify homogeneous customer segments, and to optimize the use of CRE’s resources with a differentiated pricing strategy.

Identification of variables proposed for inclusion into a regional railway corridor transportation economic regulatory framework: A case of the Southern African Development Community North–South Corridor

Background: Economic regulation involves provision of rules, systems or alteration of the allocation of resources and/or distribution of income in a manner preferred to that which could have occurred in the absence of such upheld regulations. As railway transportation continues to be recognised as an essential contributor to the economic development of many economies, because of its comparative advantage in surface transportation of bulk and heavy cargo, the competition from the road trucking and its market dominance stands as an increasing threat. Objective: This article recommends economic factors that can be assessed for significance as variables for inclusion into a regional railway corridor transportation economic regulatory framework for enhancing competitiveness of rail operations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) using the case of the North–South Corridor (NSC). Method: An appraisal of economic theories and global practices are the basis used for recommending the economic factors. The different forms of corridor freight competition, the importance of property rights within the context of roles and responsibilities of railway corridor stakeholders, and the parameters determining the level of freight service are also appraised in arriving at the recommended variables. Results: Identified variables are: corridor governance; commercial obligations of corridor parties; corridor rail service design; countering existent forms of corridor competition; and property rights allocation. Conclusion: It is concluded that appropriate optimisation of the determined variables will enhance railway corridor economic efficiency and facilitate for the measurement of railway corridor economic competitiveness by attracting investment, pricing for freight services, predictability of operations, quality of freight service, safety and security, increasing freight market share and competition against road freight transportation.