Freight Station Research Articles

WAYS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF FUNCTIONING OF THE FREIGHT STATIONS OF NETWORK

Purpose. Meeting the needs of clients in the transportation of goods largely depends on the efficient operation of the network stations, primarily freight, where the bulk of freight and related commercial work is performed. Therefore, the analysis of the conditions and problems of operation, the study of the parameters of wagon traffic that arrive at the station and its access roads and depart from it, and the proposed ways to improve the efficiency of the freight stations are relevant. Methodology. To analyse the conditions and problems of the functioning of the freight stations of the network applied system analysis. To study the parameters of wagon traffic arriving at the cargo station and access roads and sent from there, the methods of mathematical statistics are used. Findings. The main numerical characteristics of random variables of the duration of the stay of cars at the freight station and access roads by elements, the number of cars in groups arriving at the station by assignment to its access roads, the interval of arrival of groups of cars to the station by assignment to access roads and the laws of their distribution are investigated. Scientific novelty. The results obtained during the study allow a scientific basis for the selection of appropriate ways to improve the efficiency of the freight stations in conjunction with the adjacent access roads of enterprises. Practical value. The consideration of the stochastic nature of factors increases the adequacy of modelling the operation of freight stations. The obtained results can be applied to substantiate rational ways to improve the efficiency of the functioning of freight stations.

Организация транспортно-складских систем железнодорожного транспорта

Objective: To develop a conceptually basic framework for organizing railroad storage-retrieval systems. Methods: Analytical method was applied. Results: A brief analysis of literature references, dedicated to the problems of organizing transportation process by means of railroad transport, was carried out. The conceptual framework of storage-retrieval systems was justified. It was demonstrated that the delivery system might be regarded as a storage-retrieval system. Features of scientific novelty as well as aspects of practical application of the results were pointed out. Conceptual content of the suggested storage-retrieval delivery system of highly-profitable freight for integrated transport and logistic customer service was described. Typical charts of organizing transportation process with the use of storage-retrieval systems were developed and displayed in graph form. A mathematical economic model designed to assess the structure of terminal network was presented. Efficiency of the model in question was studied through the example of the Novosibirsk transportation hub. Parameters of freight delivery were calculated by the principle “from a logistical object to a logistical object” according to the current chart and those being developed. The results of conducted calculations for the current logistical object, located at the station K, were presented in figures and comparative tables according to different delivery options. Calculation data of economic efficiency of the proposal showed that OAO Russian Railways will restore the profit lost from client attrition, that command the services of private logistical objects in places of uncommon use, by means of generating its own terminal network for handling a range of unitized cargo at baseline freight stations and providing clients with a wide range of additional services. Practical importance: Application of proposals in OAO “Russian Railways” transport and logistical business will make it possible to improve cost-effectiveness of Russian Railways Holding Company operation by developing client-centeredness and integrity of the implemented service.

“NeckarPark Stuttgart": District heat from wastewater

The 22-hectare area of the former freight station is currently Stuttgart’s largest urban development project. In addition to commercial and service areas, around 850 residential units are to be built on a net floor area totaling 220,000 m². The energy concept includes heat recovery from wastewater with a capacity of 2.1 megawatts, which is extracted from a nearby sewer. The energy concept is supplemented by cogeneration units. In the NeckarPark district a low-temperature four-pipe heating grid, which is built by the state capital Stuttgart and operated by the city-owned energy supplier (Stadtwerke Stuttgart), provides heat to the buildings.

Carrying capacity and efficiency optimization model for freight train segment train

With economic expansion having moderated to a “new normal” pace, supply structure of goods and competition state of logistics market has undergone major changes. In order to respond to these changes actively, China Railway Corporation has launched railway express freight block trains to meet with customers’ demands. However, traditional operation conditions require every freight block train fully loaded to make best of transportation capacity. This has caused a series of problems to freight block trains, such as uncertain departure time, unstable running frequency and so on, which cannot meet with the customers’ basic requirements for goods transport and logistics. So it is an urgent task to study the suitable cars’ number and running frequency of railway express freight block trains so as to reduce customers’ costs and increase China Railway Corporation’s profits. Therefore, this paper analyzes the calculation method of customers’ generalized transportation cost and profits of running a railway express freight block train. Then, an optimization model for cars’ number and running frequency of freight block trains is proposed. The objective functions of this model are the minimum general transportation costs of customers and the maximum profits of China Railway Corporation. The model constraints are about transportation capacity, railway freight stations’ operating capacity and so on. Taking railway express freight block trains operated between Beijing and Shanghai as an example, the cars’ number and running frequency are calculated which can effectively reduce customers’ cost and increase China Railway Corporation’s profits. The results can prove the feasibility of the model proposed in this paper.

Development of model freight magnetic levitation terminal

On the basis of schemes of cargo magnetic levitation stations, developed by the specialists of the Department of "Railway stations and junctions" of Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg State Transport University, and the technology to transport goods over discrete-continuous principles created a model that allows to perform dynamic experiments to identify significant design parameters and performance of magnetic levitation terminals. Goal: To identify dependencies of key operating parameters of freight terminals required for their design and choice of rational performance of basic elements and devices. Method: In order to solve this problem, it is proposed to use a simulation method by means of a programme AnyLogic. Results: The technological algorithm of a freight station was developed, on the basis of which in the software environment of AnyLogic of the Russian company “the AnyLogic Company” the simulation model was built, and necessary report data were obtained - the required number and capacity of loading and unloading equipment, annual turnover of terminal, the average time spent on the platforms at the station and unproductive downtime of magnetic levitation platforms. Practical importance: The model verification has shown that the proposed simulation method allows to determine and justify the required parameters of the freight terminal of magnetic levitation lines, which will ensure rational spending of the funds for their construction and required processing ability.

Flow assignment model for quantitative analysis of diverting bulk freight from road to railway.

Since railway transport possesses the advantage of high volume and low carbon emissions, diverting some freight from road to railway will help reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with transport. This paper develops a flow assignment model for quantitative analysis of diverting truck freight to railway. First, a general network which considers road transportation, railway transportation, handling and transferring is established according to all the steps in the whole transportation process. Then general functions which embody the factors which the shippers will pay attention to when choosing mode and path are formulated. The general functions contain the congestion cost on road, the capacity constraints of railways and freight stations. Based on the general network and general cost function, a user equilibrium flow assignment model is developed to simulate the flow distribution on the general network under the condition that all shippers choose transportation mode and path independently. Since the model is nonlinear and challenging, we adopt a method that uses tangent lines to constitute envelope curve to linearize it. Finally, a numerical example is presented to test the model and show the method of making quantitative analysis of bulk freight modal shift between road and railway.

DEVELOPMENT OF MODEL FREIGHT MAGNETIC LEVITATION TERMINAL

On the basis of schemes of cargo magnetic levitation stations, developed by the specialists of the Department of "Railway stations and junctions" of Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg State Transport University, and the technology to transport goods over discrete-continuous principles created a model that allows to perform dynamic experiments to identify significant design parameters and performance of magnetic levitation terminals. Goal: To identify dependencies of key operating parameters of freight terminals required for their design and choice of rational performance of basic elements and devices. Method: In order to solve this problem, it is proposed to use a simulation method by means of a programme AnyLogic. Results: The technological algorithm of a freight station was developed, on the basis of which in the software environment of AnyLogic of the Russian company “the AnyLogic Company” the simulation model was built, and necessary report data were obtained – the required number and capacity of loading and unloading equipment, annual turnover of terminal, the average time spent on the platforms at the station and unproductive downtime of magnetic levitation platforms. Practical importance: The model verification has shown that the proposed simulation method allows to determine and justify the required parameters of the freight terminal of magnetic levitation lines, which will ensure rational spending of the funds for their construction and required processing ability.

CREATION PRINCIPLES OF INTELLIGENT AUTOMATED DELIVERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AT THE RAILWAY

Purpose. The paper is aimed to analyze the functioning of the existing railway informational system, as the data storage, consideration of the ways to changeover to intelligent management system, including the application of semantic approach. It is necessary to change the paradigm of automated traffic management; this determines changing the paradigm in railway operation management. The development and introduction of new Business-Intelligence-type system requires the formalized knowledge on railway transportation process to be implemented, including in the form of ontology as the model and means to formalize the knowledge. New knowledge requires using the terms and concepts to describe the new processes and management objects in railway operations. Methodology. Formalizing the knowledge one should abstract away from classical definitions such as marshaling or freight station, train station, division station, dead-end station, railway junction, railway hub etc. Unified Modeling Languages for engineering the automated systems use the definitions: the objects’ categories, the class diagrams, statechart diagrams, sequence diagrams, activity diagrams, component diagrams, link diagrams in properties etc. These concepts enable formalizing the knowledge, bringing to homogeneous representing and using them for modeling the management processes of goods delivery. Findings. The data on timing the events of goods delivery process, breakings of schedule are taken into account in set-theoretical model on scripting scenarios for goods delivery process. One of the concepts in the model on breaking of schedule ( from the knowledge base of the system ASK VPUZ-E enables to take into account the influence of possible factors and the real railway operations conditions. Originality. The ways to formalize knowledge on railway transportation process as the major premise to form intelligent informational software for management system were analyzed . The set-theoretical models on goods delivery management for scripting goods delivery process’ scenarios have been developed in the paper, the examples of using the means of object-oriented modeling to construct algorithm for technological processes have been given as well. Practical value. The author suggests new terms, definitions and concepts describing the logistic business processes and enabling to changeover to formalizing the knowledge and to forming the conditions of intelligent management system of goods delivery on railways.

Location characteristics and differentiation mechanism of logistics nodes and logistics enterprises based on points of interest (POI): A case study of Beijing

The logistics nodes and logistics enterprises are the core carriers and organizational subjects of the logistics space, and their location characteristics and differentiation strategies are of key importance to optimizing urban logistics spatial patterns and ensuring reasonable resource allocation. Based on Tencent Online Maps Platform from December 2014, 4396 logistics points of interest (POI) were collected in Beijing, China. By the methods of industrial concentration evaluation and kernel density analysis, the spatial distribution pattern of logistics in Beijing are explored, the interaction mechanism among the type difference, supply-demand side factors and location choice behavior are clarified, and the internal mechanism of spatial differentiation under the combined influence of transportation, land rent and assets are revealed. The following conclusions are drawn in the paper. (1) Logistics enterprises and logistics nodes exhibit the characteristic of both co-agglomeration and spatial separation in location, and logistics activities display the spatial pattern of "marginal area of downtown area, suburbs and exurban area", which have a weak coupling degree with logistics employment space. (2) The public logistics space, namely, logistics parks and logistics centers, is produced under the guidance of the government, and the terminal logistics space consisting of logistics distribution centers serving for the specific industries and terminal users is dominated by enterprises. The locational differentiation between the two modes of logistics space is significant. (3) In the formation of the logistics spatial location, the government can change the traffic condition by re-planning the transport routes and freight station locations, and control the land rent and availability of different areas by increasing or decreasing the land use of logistics, to impact the enterprise behavior and form different types of logistics space and function differentiation. In comparison, logistics enterprises meet the diverse demands of service objects through differentiation of asset allocation to promote the specialization of division and form the object differentiation of logistics space.

Railway Container Station Reselection Approach and Application: Based on Entropy-Cloud Model

Reasonable railway container freight stations layout means higher transportation efficiency and less transportation cost. To obtain more objective and accurate reselection results, a new entropy-cloud approach is formulated to solve the problem. The approach comprises three phases: Entropy Method is used to obtain the weight of each subcriterion during Phase 1, then cloud model is designed to form the evaluation cloud for each subcriterion during Phase 2, and finally during Phase 3 we use the weight during Phase 1 to multiply the initial evaluation cloud during Phase 2. MATLAB is applied to determine the evaluation figures and help us to make the final alternative decision. To test our approach, the railway container stations in Wuhan Railway Bureau were selected for our case study. The final evaluation result indicates only Xiangyang Station should be renovated and developed as a Special Transaction Station, five other stations should be kept and developed as Ordinary Stations, and the remaining 16 stations should be closed. Furthermore, the results show that, before the site reselection process, the average distance between two railway container stations was only 74.7 km but has improved to 182.6 km after using the approach formulated in this paper.

Analysis of the Transport Characteristics of Bulk Cargo in Freight Stations Located Behind Trade Ports

Analysis of the Transport Characteristics of Bulk Cargo in Freight Stations Located Behind Trade Ports

Modernization as the Best Way to Organization

Modern transport infrastructure of Moscow is undergoing fundamental changes. Inside the city at large freight stations a frame made of terminal and logistics centers is created to optimize local work and to further increase the volume of cargo processed. The article examines challenges faced by metropolitan freight stations, and offers methods for solving issues relating to organization of local work, reconstruction of stations, an increase in the volume of cargo transportation, logistics activities of transportation companies.

Simulation of freight stations work for magnetic levitation lines

Simulation of freight stations work for magnetic levitation lines

The influence of size, location and functions of freight rail terminals on urban form and land use

This article outlines how the size, location and scope of activities of freight rail terminals influence urban form and land use. The nature of freight rail stations is outlined, and the classes of trains that make use of these facilities are described. According to size, railway freight stations can be divided into four groups: (1) railway halts; (2) small-sized goods stations; (3) medium-sized goods stations; and (4) large-sized goods stations. The factors that determine the location of stations are discussed. Rail freight stations can be divided functionally into four broad classes: (1) break-bulk rail terminals; (2) bulk rail terminals; (3) roll-on/roll-off rail terminals; and (4) intermodal terminals. The functions of the four rail terminal classes are described. The paper discusses how rail freight terminals can influence urban form and land use. Finally the conclusions of the study are presented.

Research on freight business reorganisation for railway freight station hub in China

Freight business reorganisation (FBR) in railway freight station hub is researched on the basis of the idea of 'limited categories and limited directions'. First, according to the subordinate hierarchical decision-making relationship between railway departments and shippers, a bi-level programming model for FBR is constructed. The objective of upper level model is to minimise the total of freight turnover in the freight station hub and the dispersion of business, and minimising the transport cost for shippers is the goal of the lower level model. Then, reaction function between upper and lower decision variables is formatted and a heuristic algorithm to solve the model is developed. Finally, a numerical sample is designed to verify the feasibility of the model and the algorithm. The results show that the business dispersion in reorganised freight station decreased by 75.00%, freight turnover decreased by 18.21%, and the shippers' transport costs only increased by 9.40%.

Research on freight business reorganisation for railway freight station hub in China

Research on freight business reorganisation for railway freight station hub in China

МЕТОДИКА ОЦЕНКИ ЭКСПЛУАТАЦИОННЫХ ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ РАБОТЫ ЖЕЛЕЗНОДОРОЖНЫХ СТАНЦИЙ В УСЛОВИЯХ ДИНАМИКИ ПЕРЕВОЗОЧНОГО ПРОЦЕССА

At present time freight stations operation is complicated by raised dynamics of production and transport processes. Under the given handling capacity, this circumstance affects duration of processing of inbound and internal flow of freight cars. New approaches to analysis, assessment of operational characteristics, and designing of freight railway stations within industrial enterprises, considering dynamics of production and transport environment, are developed.

Freight stations for lines of magnetic levitation

At the present stage of development of a transport of magnetic levitation, there is a clear trend of its division by the nature of the traffic flows, i.e. for passenger and cargo transportation. One of the most promising areas of freight maglev transport is container transportation. So far, the aspects of designing the freight stations required for container shipments by this type of transport were not broadly explored. After analyzing the principles and technology of existing container terminals within the traditional rail transport, it can be concluded that the maglev container stations should be constructed on the basis of conditions to ensure the possibility of the three main types of operations: freight, marshaling, and maintenance of rolling stock. Meanwhile, the execution of these operations will require the traditional devices, which are used at railway container terminals, and specific, which related to work of transport on magnetic suspension. Particular attention should be paid to the decision-making on the schemes of maglev freight stations. With the current state of the problem, it is logical to assume that the first types of these stations and sites for loading and unloading of containers will be designed according to deadlock schemes. The main requirement for schemes of such stations would be the support of container flows promotion and their processing. The article suggested three possible options for the organization of the maglev container stations, ensuring fulfillment of this requirement. The main difference between the considered options is the way to move platforms from one track to another. In the first case, it is proposed to use a magnetic switch and a deadend rail track, in the second option - a special device that works similarly to transborder, while the third option - a loop route. Analysis of the developed variants showed that in the short term, the greatest likelihood of practical implementation would have a version with the transborder device type. On this basis, the article proposed two principal schemes of maglev freight stations that differ by the processing capacity. For each scheme, the detailed technology of work is considered.

IMPROVEMENT APPROACH TO THE CALCULATION OF RATIONAL PARAMETERS OF THE PROCESS OF HANDLING TRAFFIC VOLUMES IN THE "YARD – FREIGHT STATION – DISTRICT PARKS PORT"

Purpose . The aim of the article is to improve the processing of traffic volumes in the «Marshaling yard - freight station - the port railway yard» by improving the scientific approach to the calculation of rational parameters. Methods. To determine the rational parameters of the process handling traffic volumes in the system identified measures to increase the efficiency of processing technologies traffic volumes, which will be held in the system. To obtain the results of their impletion created a mathematical model that shows the value of the effectiveness of these measures. The optimality criterion is adopted by at least a share of operating costs in the processing of traffic volumes in the system. Control parameters are the volume of traffic volumes with priority and conventional treatment, the number of groups of cars, which are served in the port area of the park, and the number of cars in each such filing. Restrictions on the control parameters define the area of feasible solutions in the form of a system of linear inequalities. Results. The technology of the redistribution of traffic volumes between sorting and port freight station on the basis of priority of service cars destination seaports. Formed mathematical model to determine its rational parameters. Scientific novelty. First proposed a scientific approach to the calculation of rational parameters of the processing of traffic volumes in the «Marshaling yard - freight station - the port railway yard» based on the minimization of the proportion of operating costs for processing these streams through the use of their priority service since the end of the dissolution of the formulations to the yard the moment the group of cars in the port railway yard. The practical significance. Redistribution Job processing traffic volumes appointment seaports reduces the length of time the cars on the portside freight station by eliminating the need to recycling, reduce unproductive time waiting for technological operations, to reduce the duration of the process steps in the loading station.

Czech Republic: The Freight Station at Žižkov

Czech Republic: The Freight Station at Žižkov