Rail Terminals Research Articles

Feeder bus service design under spatially heterogeneous demand

In rapidly sprawling urban areas and booming intercity express rail networks, efficiently designed feeder bus systems are more essential than ever to transport passengers to and from trunk-line rail terminals. When the feeder service region is sufficiently large, the spatial heterogeneity in demand distribution must be considered. This paper develops continuum approximation models for optimizing a heterogeneous fixed-route feeder network in a rectangular service region next to a rail terminal. Our work enhances previous studies by: (i) optimizing heterogeneous stop spacings along with line spacings and headways; (ii) accounting for passenger boarding and alighting numbers on bus dwell times and patron transfer delays at the rail terminal; and (iii) examining the advantages of asymmetric coordination between trunk and feeder schedules in both service directions. To tackle the increased modeling complexity, we introduce a semi-analytical method that combines analytically derived properties of the optimal solution with an iterative search algorithm. Local transit agencies can readily utilize this approach to design a real fixed-route feeder system.This paper reveals many findings and insights not previously reported. For instance, integrating the heterogeneous stop spacing optimization further reduces the system cost (by 4% under specific operating conditions). The cost savings increase with demand heterogeneity but decrease with the demand rate and service region size. Choosing the layout of feeder lines where buses pick up and drop off passengers along the service region’s shorter side also significantly lowers the system cost (by 6% when the service region’s aspect ratio is 1 to 2). Furthermore, coordinating trunk and feeder schedules in both service directions yields an additional cost saving of up to 20%.

Dynamic Response Analysis of the Floor Structure under Random Crowd Excitation

The popularity of new structural systems and prestressing technology has led to the widespread use of the large-space floor structures in large buildings such as high-speed rail terminals, conference centers, and sports stadiums. The reduction of nonessential load-bearing elements and the increase in span of the structure result in a reduction in the natural frequency and damping ratio of the floor structure, while the floor is a crowded area with disorderly flow between people, which may lead to human-induced vibration problems. In order to assess the dynamic performance of the large-span floor structure under crowd load, the random crowd-floor vertical interaction equation is derived, and the correctness of the equation is verified by comparing it with the test. For the stochastic nature of walking crowds, a formulation modeling method for random crowd is proposed, including pedestrian-dynamics parameters, formulation model, and response parameters. The model is characterized by considering inter- and intrasubject variability and reflects the vertical interaction between pedestrians and the floor system. According to the random crowd-floor dynamic equation, the variation of modal parameters and acceleration response of the floor during random crowd walking are also analyzed. The research in this paper will help in analyzing the comfort of large-span floor structures under pedestrian excitation and better meet the needs of the development of lightweight large-span structures.

Analyzing Long-Term High-Rise Building Areas Changes Using Deep Learning and Multisource Satellite Images

High-rise building areas (HRBs) provide significant social and environmental services and play a crucial role in modern urbanization. The large-scale and long-term spatial distribution of HRBs is of great interest to many fields, such as urban planning and local climate analysis. While previous studies have confirmed the value of Sentinel-2 images in extracting HRBs and their changes, current work is limited to relatively local areas and short-term analysis. One reason is due to the fact that the earliest Sentinel-2 image can only date back to 2015. To address this research gap, this paper proposes an efficient procedure to intelligently extract HRBs and their changes from multitemporal Landsat-7 and Sentinel-2 images, using a specifically designed fully convolutional network. To validate the proposed method, we selected four typical cities in China, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Zhengzhou, as study areas. We utilized Landsat-7 images acquired in 2000 and 2010, along with Sentinel-2 images acquired in 2020, as experimental data. We extracted and analyzed three periods of HRBs and their changes in the four cities, along with urban rail terminal data and gross domestic product (GDP) data in the same period. The results show that the proposed method can efficiently extract HRBs and their changes in the four cities over the past 20 years, with an overall accuracy of more than 90%. HRBs changes are primarily driven by urban planning policies and geographical factors. There is a strong positive correlation between the increase in HRBs and the increase in rail terminals, both in terms of quantity and spatial distribution. Additionally, there is a positive correlation between HRBs increase and GDP increase in terms of quantity, but the trend varies in different cities due to their diverse developing modes. Overall, the results indicate that the proposed method can be a potential operational tool to extract large-scale and long-term HRBs and their changes in China.

Delayed arrival: planning, competition and conflict in the Rail Baltic terminal project in Tallinn, Estonia

ABSTRACT This article is an account of a planning process that is distributed and difficult to follow. By performing a thorough analysis of the design competition of the future Rail Baltic terminal in Tallinn, Estonia, it makes visible and critiques the decisions and dynamics enabled by the often-opaque processes of megaproject infrastructure planning and landmark design competitions. For this, the study first outlines a historiology of expectations for development created by new urban rail terminals. Then it relates the discourses of design, megaprojects and design competitions as trait-making processes with the potential to materialize future visions of society. The case study relies on expansive discourse analysis and in-depth expert interviews to trace key planning decisions, design strategies and stakeholder motivation impacting the planning of the Rail Baltic terminal and its role in the wider public realm of Tallinn. The study finds that the interlinked processes of megaproject planning and design competitions have inherent democratic deficiencies which can be counterproductive to benefitting the public realm. The results also suggest the need for a more socially responsible approach to planning infrastructure megaprojects.

Intermodal Green p-Hub Median Problem with Incomplete Hub-Network

In the literature, hub-networks have often been modeled such as only one mode is considered for all transportation. Also, the consolidated demand flows are assumed to be transferred directly between each origin-destination hub pairs. The previous assumptions impose restrictions on the practical applications of such hub-networks. In fact, various transport modes are usually retained for freight transport, and intermodal terminals (e.g., rail terminals) may not realistically be fully connected. Thus, to assist decision makers, we investigate if the appropriate use of more eco-friendly transportation modes in incomplete networks may contribute to the accomplishment of the significant global reduction goals in carbon emissions. In this paper, we study the intermodal green p-hub median problem with incomplete hub-network. For each p located hub nodes, the hub-network is connected by at most q hub-links. The objective is to minimize the total transportation-based CO2 emission costs incurred through the road- and rail-transportation of each o-d demand flows. We present a MILP formulation for the studied problem and propose a novel genetic algorithm to solve it. A penalty cost is considered on solutions where train capacity is exceeded. Additionally, we present a best-path construction heuristic to generate the initial population. Furthermore, we develop a demand flows routing heuristic to efficiently determine the partition of demand flows in the incomplete road-rail network. And we implement novel crossover and mutation operators to produce new off-springs. Extensive computational experiments show that the proposed solution approach outperforms the exact solver CPLEX. Also, we perform a comparison between the unimodal and intermodal cases, and offer a discussion on the tuning of freight trains.

Container retrieval and wagon assignment planning at container rail terminals

Efficient use of handling equipment at container terminals is important for improving operational efficiency amidst the increasing intermodal traffic and environmental concerns. This paper discusses a complex planning problem of container retrieval from storage yard and their assignment on wagons on the rail-side of terminals. The complexity of this planning problem increases further when double-stack container trains are loaded. For the first time in the literature, we discuss the terminal operator’s objective of minimizing cranes’ handling time while considering double-stack train loading operations. To achieve this objective, we minimize container retrieval time from the storage yard, relocation time of obstructing containers, loading time on wagons, and rail-side unproductive double-handling of containers. We propose heuristic algorithms that provide an efficient retrieval and loading plan while considering multifarious requirements of rail-side and yard-side operations. Our numerical experiments based on real-life loading of container trains show that the proposed retrieval and loading policy can decrease the cranes’ handling time by an average of 11.79% compared to the commonly used policy.

Evaluation of rail terminals in container ports using simulation: A case study

The purpose of this research is to define the bottlenecks in a port’s rail container transport process and simulate the proposed scenarios in a real port using the lean-railroading approach. After visiting the selected port and holding several meetings with the authorities, all functions relating to containers have been identified. Each section’s arrival and departure times were used in this analysis for all containers shipped by rail in 2017, including 19,000 records. The data was accomplished by the processing time of transferring the containers between the railway areas and the port berth. The value stream map (VSM) related to the processes was prepared using the lean approach, the current port situation and proposed scenarios were simulated using the AnyLogic software. The results showed that the two proposed solutions effectively reduced time and costs by up to 20%. The research port also could increase the rail share to 8% without spending on infrastructure. Nevertheless, the rail container terminal warehouse will be a significant bottleneck for the port by growing the load operations. Reducing the turnover of the wagon will also halve the required number of wagons in the network. Therefore, it is recommended that a framework be established to direct freight to rail transport through the Ports Organization by meeting the infrastructure and operational requirements of the port and through the Railroad Company by launching the scheduled freight train and providing the required fleets.

Distribution of resources for equipping handling fronts in rail consolidation terminals

An indispensable factor of the socio-economic life, the transports realize the connection between the economic zones, which facilitates the attraction of all the companies to the economic circuit, to the capitalization of the available resources and to their overall development. The influence of transport volumes is clearly manifested on the capacity of the terminals, the number of means of transport necessary to satisfy the demand, the degree of their use, the economy of the goods handling installations, the capacity of the handling fronts and labour productivity. Therefore, it is of a great importance to design the constructions and equipments of the terminals according to a criteria based on the optimal structure of the technical endowment subject to variations in the volume of transport activities. The present paper aims to present a theoretical framework for the distribution of resources for equipping handling fronts of the rail terminals. A mathematical model and a algorithm based on the projected gradient method are developed to solve this problem.

Vehicle Sequencing at Transshipment Terminals with Handover Relations

Operational planning at transshipment nodes is a wide and challenging field of research that covers a vast number of distinct relevant applications, spanning from seaport container terminals to rail terminals to cross-docks. In this work, we study the feasibility version of a fundamental synchronization problem that assigns incoming vehicles to docking resources subject to handover relations. We carry out a comprehensive analysis of computational complexity of various problem variants and establish structural connections to famous decision problems in graph theory. We further propose an exact solution algorithm for finding feasible dock assignments, if vehicles can visit the node only once and evaluate its performance in a comprehensive computational study.

Integrated planning of train schedule template and container transshipment operation in seaport railway terminals

This paper investigates the transshipment operations between vessels and trains in seaport rail terminals. In order to get a more effective transshipment plan, the schedule plan of trains and the transshipment plan of containers among vessels, yards, and trains are determined simultaneously. To this end, a mixed integer programming (MIP) model is proposed to integrate the two sub-problems with the objective of minimizing the total operation cost, in which the service time window and unloading time requirement of trains are considered. It is demonstrated that some variables in the model can be relaxed without influencing the optimal result. Moreover, a set of valid inequalities are introduced to tighten the constraints. The result experiments show that the enhanced model can be solved more effectively. Then, extensive experiments have been conducted to analyze the influence of several factors, including the handling capacity, the yard capacity, and the value of unit cost. The results report that the handling capacity shows a significant effect on the performance of the transfer plan, and increasing the storage cost of import containers leads to a more effective transshipment plan.

Achieving higher taxi outflows from a drop-off lane: A simulation-based study

Lanes used by taxis and other shared-ride vehicles at airports and rail terminals are often congested. The present paper examines congestion-mitigating strategies for a special type of lane inside of which taxis are prohibited from overtaking each other while dropping-off patrons. Taxis must therefore often wait in first-in-first-out (FIFO) queues that form in the lane during busy periods. Patrons may be discharged from taxis upon reaching a desired area near the terminal entrance. When wait times grow long, however, some taxis discharge their patrons in advance of that desired area.The Nanjing South Railway Station in China is selected as a case study. Its FIFO drop-off lane is presently managed by police officers who allow taxis to enter the lane in batched fashion. Inefficiencies are observed because curb space near the upstream and downstream ends of the lane often goes unused.A microscopic simulation model is developed in-house, and is painstakingly calibrated to data measured in the study site’s FIFO lane. Simulation experiments indicate that rescinding the lane’s present batching strategy can increase taxi outflow by more than 25%. Further experiments show that even greater gains can be achieved by requiring taxis to discharge patrons when forced by downstream queues to stop a prescribed distance in advance of a desired drop-off area. Further gains were predicted by requiring the lead taxi in each batch to discharge its patron(s) only after travelling a prescribed distance beyond a desired location. The above findings are confirmed for scenarios calibrated with field data collected on two different days, and for hypothetical scenarios with varying input parameters. Roles that technology can play in implementing these new lane-management strategies are discussed. So are their practical implications in light of the present boom in shared-ride services.

Transshipment operations optimization of sea-rail intermodal container in seaport rail terminals

This paper tackles the sea-rail transshipment operation problem of seaport rail terminals, which includes two key sub-problems involved in sea-rail intermodal container transportation, namely train schedule template and transshipment plan of inbound containers. With limited resources and time constraints, operators need to decide the placed-in and taken-out time of trains to coordinate with vessels’ unloading time and the transshipment plan of inbound containers (i.e. the amount of containers that are transshipped between different vessels and trains in each time slot) to maximize the number of direct-transshipment containers while minimizing the storage time and dwell time of inbound containers. The problem is formulated as an integer programming model, and a tailored rolling horizon approach with the adaptive horizon and backtracking strategy is proposed. The performance of the algorithm is verified by a set of instances. The results suggest that the handling capacity of rail-mounted gantry cranes shows a more significant effect on the performance of transshipment operation than other factors. The negative effect caused by insufficient handling capacity could be alleviated by methods like prolonging the feasible service time of trains and enhancing the operational capacity of shunting engines.

A discrete-event simulation model to test multimodal strategies for a greener and more resilient wood supply

Increasing occurrences of natural disturbances, including windstorms and high snow cover, and supply chain risks lead to severe irregularities in wood harvest and transport. To overcome resulting supply difficulties, innovative multimodal systems via rail terminals are promising options offering the potential to increase buffer capacity, improve supply chain resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, a train terminal is included in a virtual simulation environment spanning the entire wood supply chain from forest to industry to test, analyze, and evaluate a complex multimodal system in different scenario settings. Furthermore, the simulation model provides intuitive decision support through animation and a cockpit of key performance indicators, facilitating hands-on workshops with supply chain managers. Results show the advantage of a combination of unimodal and multimodal transport in the wood supply chain of the observed case-study region. This combination proves to be resilient and outperforms other tested supply chain strategies by avoiding both bottlenecks and ill-timed plans and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Furthermore, workshops conducted with industry experts indicate that adapting collaborative supply chain control strategies by means of a participatory simulation environment enhances the development of advanced risk management and therefore improves supply chain resilience, efficiency, and sustainability.

Reformulated acyclic partitioning for rail-rail containers transshipment

Many rail terminals have loading areas that are properly equipped to move containers between trains. With the growing throughput of these terminals all the trains involved in a sequence of such movements may not fit in the loading area simultaneously, and storage areas are needed to place containers waiting for their destination train, although this storage increases the cost of the transshipment. This increases the complexity of the planning decisions concerning these activities, since now trains need to be packed in groups that fit in the loading area, in such a way that the number of containers moved to the storage area is minimized. Additionally, each train is only allowed to enter the loading area once.Similarly to previous authors, we model this situation as an acyclic graph partitioning problem for which we present a new formulation, and several valid inequalities based on its theoretical properties. Our computational experiments show that the new formulation outperforms the previously existing ones, providing results that improve even on the best exact algorithm designed so far for this problem.

Impacts of Transportation and Logistics on Brazilian Soybean Prices and Exports

Abstract As Brazilian soybean exports doubled between 2001/02 and 2011/12 and major production areas consolidated in remote inland Cerrado regions, moving product to port has proven to be a challenge. A review of the literature, data analysis, and interviews with experts in the logistics chain revealed that a lack of grain storage, overreliance on trucking, poor road conditions, and inefficient operations at rail terminals and ports impede a smooth flow of grain from farm to port. Because of the comparatively low per-unit values of agricultural bulk commodities, transportation may account for a large share of the total cost of soybean exports. As a result, it was hypothesized that increases in transportation costs may reduce farm-gate prices, affecting producer profitability and, thus, national production. To test that hypothesis, this study examined transportation costs from inland production regions to traffic hubs and the Santos seaport. A comparison of theoretical producer prices calculated based on logistics costs versus actual local prices was employed to confirm that transport inefficiencies have led to depressed farm gate prices.

Sizing an Energy System for Hybrid Li-Ion Battery-Supercapacitor RTG Cranes Based on State Machine Energy Controller

Ports and container terminals play an important role in the global logistics system. Handling containers inside container terminals and rail terminals are mostly carried out by rubber tire gantry (RTG) cranes. These cranes have quite different power profile compared to hybrid vehicles. They have a broad power demand, varying from 10kW to 350kW, 170kW regenerating power, and a maximum of 30kW auxiliary power. The high peak demand due to the acceleration of hoist drivetrain determines the prime mover (diesel generator) capacity. This capacity is highly over-rated when comparing with crane's average power demand. Such power profiles having high peak power to average power ratio can be supplied through hybrid systems which can downsize the diesel generator, improve fuel efficiency, reduce CO 2 emissions, and reduce maintenance cost. In this study, a hybrid energy source is presented for an RTG crane. The hybrid energy source comprises a Lithium-ion battery bank, supercapacitor (SC) bank connected to the DC-link through bi-directional DC/DC converters, and a downsized variable speed diesel generator (VSDG) connected to the DC-link through an active rectifier. The narrowband operation of the battery bank helps to increase the healthy life of the battery system reducing risk due to unhealthy conditions during faults and abnormal situations. In this paper, the sizing of a hybrid energy system controlled by a state machine controller is presented. Unlike traditional optimization-based sizing techniques, unique features of demand profile, operating environment, system redundancy, backup operation, readily available components, and specific features of state machine controller were highly considered which differentiate the method of sizing from others.

Optimal planning for container prestaging, discharging, and loading processes at seaport rail terminals with uncertainty

This paper considers the optimal planning problem for container prestaging and dynamic discharging/loading at seaport rail terminals subject to uncertainties. We formulate the problem into a stochastic dynamic programming model to minimise the total logistics cost. Four simplified strategies are proposed. Experiments based on a real case study are performed to compare the optimal strategy with four simplified strategies in terms of cost, computing time and practicality. Results show that the seaport can use prestaging to reduce the cost involved and that an appropriate discharging/loading plan can be created in response to different prestaging situations and uncertain scenarios.

Intercity Passenger Rails: Facilitating the Spatial Spillover Effects of Population and Employment Growth in the United States, 2000-2010.

This research examines the association that intercity passenger rails have with population and employment growth at the county level in the continental United States from 2000 to 2010. This research adopts an integrated spatial regression approach that incorporates both spatial lag and spatial error dependence. The data come from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Land Developability Index, and the National Atlas of the United States. Population and employment change are regressed on intercity passenger rails, controlling for 14 socioeconomic variables. Intercity passenger rails are measured by the number of intercity passenger rail terminals in each county. The results suggest that the associations that intercity passenger rails have with population and employment change are both direct and indirect. Intercity passenger rails have a negative and direct association with population and employment change from 2000 to 2010. The Great Recession during this period may have compelled people to move out of their home county in search of jobs; having intercity passenger rails facilitated this process. The results also indicate that intercity passenger rails have a positive and indirect association with population and employment change. Population and employment change in one county influences those in the adjacent counties. This indirect association shows the spatial spillover effect of population and employment growth through passenger rails. The indirect association does not come from within the county; rather, it is a spread effect from its neighbors. This research suggests that intercity passenger rails, although built long ago, still play an important role in facilitating the spread of change and the integration of local communities into a larger regional economy.

Port competition through hinterland accessibility: the case of Spain

While immediate port hinterlands remain relatively captive, distant hinterlands are fiercely contested. Where road is the dominant mode, transport costs are a function of distance which is therefore often the key determinant of port choice. Where distance is sufficiently long to enable rail to compete, other factors become important, such as terminal availability and frequency of rail services. Many ports are increasing the use of rail transport to ease port congestion, reduce transport costs or decrease environmental externalities. The question this paper poses is to what extent has the development of inland terminals and container rail shuttles influenced the ability of Spanish ports to compete for distant hinterlands? The paper analyses competition between three major container ports in Spain: Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia. We use GIS to produce a set of maps which identify relationships between the locations of the main logistics platforms, the configuration of the terrestrial transport infrastructure and the provincial origin/destination of the maritime container traffic and its inter-port distribution from 2008 to 2013. We use longitudinal data on port shipments from inland regions to investigate the changing spatial distribution of port hinterlands and then we map these changes against road and rail traffic flows, in order to explore if a correlation exists between the market share of ports in contestable hinterlands and the use of rail shuttles to key inland terminals. We find that while some inland terminals have been successful in consolidating traffic on rail services, ports (e.g. Valencia) have been able to capture distant hinterlands even with a low usage of rail. This suggests that the use of rail is not the key driver behind successful capture of distant markets, but rather distance remains the primary determinant of port choice. In future, the port of Valencia should seek to increase its growth volumes in areas where its traffic is currently less concentrated, around rail terminals.

A review and analysis of the investment in, and cost structure of, intermodal rail terminals

ABSTRACTThe results presented in this article identify the role of costs in the scientific and grey freight terminal handling literature and analyses the handling costs of different terminal sizes. The literature review shows that handling costs only play a marginal role in the scientific research in intermodal rail freight terminals (IRT). This is remarkable given the large role costs occupy in decision-making in freight transport. Furthermore, the used cost levels show a wide range of proposed amounts and terminal sizes or handling technologies are seldom addressed. Finally, many of the scientific papers do not make it clear whether the average transhipment cost or market price is referred to. Next, the analysis of the investment in, and cost structure of, IRTs shows that IRT investments are very capital-intensive leading to relatively high average costs per handling. However, given the cost characteristics of IRTs, the average cost per handling represents the underlying cost structure and are – in this sense – representative. The cost analysis demonstrates that extra-large IRTs actually have the lowest average handling costs, followed by small IRTs.