r a in

T S ch e d u l e Opti miz ati on in P u b li c R a il

r a n s p ort
T

T. Lind ner a nd U . T. Zimme r ma nn

Dep a rtme nt of M athem atic al O p tim iz a tio n, Br au nschweig U nive rs ity of

e chnology,
T Po ckels str a e 14 , D-38 106 Br au nschweig , Ge r ma ny

Abs tr act. Attr ac tive tr a in sched ule s are qu ite im p or ta nt for the s uccess of pu blic

rail tra n s p o rt. W

e con sider sched ule s which a re rep e ate d after s om e xed tim e

p erio d. Perio d icity is a well acce pte d, co nve nient a ttr ibu te of all m a jo r ra ilr oad

sys te m s. S ince tr a in s s ha re th e pu blic r ailroa d ne two rk, we have to h an dle m any

co n ic tin g de m an ds . Inc reas in g co m p e tition fr om tr a ns p or ta tion alte rn atives as

well as th e p o litic ally m o tiva te d p ro ces s of dere gulatio n forces railro ad c om pa nies

to re duce cos t a nd res ource u tiliz atio n . In th is situa tio n, b e tte r decision to o ls a re

qu ite we lcome. Here, we discu ss m o dels a nd cor res p o nd in g meth o ds fo r c ost op tim al

tr ain sched ulin g in real wor ld railro ad ne two rks .

1 Intro d u c ti o n

Th e tra in schedu le su mma rize s the ar riva l and dep ar tu re time s of tra in s at

certain p oints of th e railro ad ne two rk. These da ta form the b ack b one of p ub lic

rail tra ns p o rt p la nn ing. Di e rent p ur p o ses require info rm ation on d i e re nt

levels of a ggre gation . In p articu lar, da ta p oints may include statio n s (h ig h

degree of agg rega tio n) or s witches and im p or ta nt s igna l p o ints (low degree

of a ggreg ation) . or
F the Germ a n railro ad ne two rk dep en ding on the degree

of agg regatio n, we have to h and le 8000 to 2700 0 d ata p o ints .

ormer
F sche du les for lon g d istance tr ains were high ly ir regular. Since u su-

ally on ly one tra in p er d ay wa s sched uled for a s p ec i c con nection, a p eri-

o dica l sched ule ma de no sense . However, in high ly co nges ted ur ba n area s,

p erio dica l sched ules were u sed almo s t fro m the very b eg inn in g, e.g. su bway

tra in s in Lon do n 18 63, Par is 1 900, Ber li n 190 2.

Cu stome r s prefer p erio dica l sched ule s th at a re much eas ier to me mo rize.

Wh e n intr o ducing p er io d ical or, as they were called, xe d interval sche d-

ules for lon g d is ta nce tr a c in 1939, the Du tch ra ilr oad c omp any m arked a

new e p o ch. O the r Eu ro p ea n cou ntrie s fo llowed much la ter: Den ma rk in 1 974,

Switzer la nd in 1984 , Be lg ium and A us tri a in 1 991. In Germ any, an hou rly

schedule for I nte r City tr ains was s ta rted in 19 79. Beg in ning in 198 5/86 , sche d-

ules for Inte rRe gi o tra in s were ba sed on a two h ou r p erio d. Fina lly, from

199 2/93 , regio nal tr ain s were sche du led with so me xed tim e inte rvals. or
F a

more deta ile d h istor ical intr o duc tion , we refer to [ 1 1] .

Corre sp on din g a uth or . E ma il: T.Lindne r @tu-bs .de

 rad ition ally,
T sche du les a re visua lize d by time s pace d iag ra ms, c f. F ig. 1.

or
F a pa rticular ro ute of th e ne two rk, a time space dia gram co ntains line s

representing tr ain s serv in g th a t ro ute . Critical p oints or p o tentia l resou rce

co n ic t s are q uite o bviou s: th e tra in' s sp eed co rres p on ds to the g rad ient of

its line, a cross in g of two lines s hows th at o ne tra in mee ts or pas ses a no the r

tra in .

8: 0 0 8: 1 5 8: 3 0 8: 4 5
Time

Gro ninge n

As se n

Zwo lle

Am er sfo rt

Utrecht

Gou da

R otte r d am

F ig . 1. Tim e s pace diagr a m fo r a sche du le on th e r ou te G ro nin gen- R otte rd a m

Nowa days, so ftwa re to o ls o er e ec ti ve su pp or t for the co ns tr uctio n of

schedule s. I nform ation on tr ack to p o logy, en gine an d coach p ro p er tie s as

wel l as available crews are s tore d in da ta ba ses. Gr aph ical use r inter faces

enable sche dule planne rs to b uild an d e dit schedu les inter ac tively b ased on

time space d ia gra ms , e.g. Fig. 1. Co n ic ts are au to ma tic ally ind ica ted on

th e screen . However, the c om pu ter- a utom ate d ge nera tion and op timiz atio n

of p racticab le sched ule s s till rema in s q u ite time-co ns um in g. In p ar ticu la r,

currently im ple mented a lg or ith ms are sim ply to o slow fo r ne two rks of real

wor ld size.

Di e rent dep ar tme nts of the r ailroa d com pa ny fo rmulate various goa ls.

Th e sale s an d ma rketin g de pa rtments give pr io rity to tr avele rs' re que sts , e.g.

sho r t tr avel time , d irec t con nection s a nd , if necess ary, s witch in g of tra in s on

th e sa me platfo rm with s ho rt wa iting time . The contro lling, ma nage ment an d

logistic s de pa rtments pay much mo re a ttention to c ost re late d a sp ec ts a nd

ask fo r e c ie nt man ageme nt of ro lling s to ck a nd p er sonne l resou rces. Ro lling

sto ck is a scarce reso urce, r ules im plied by c ontrac ts and legal req uirements

set tig ht lim itatio ns for p la nn ing. H igh tr a c load at critica l p oints in the

network and secu rity req uirements ad d a lo t of o p er ationa l con stra ints . Goa ls

an d req uirements, cf. F ig. 2, are obviou sly in c o n ic t . Moreover, ex ter na l

facto r s like p olitica l decis ion s in u ence the p la nning pr o cess.

Of co urse, pla nn in g of tra in schedu les is o nly

O p e r a tio n a l
a small pa r t of th e genera l p lan ning pr o cess of

Co n s tr a i nts

tra c sys te ms (cf. [ 3] ) which includes in par tic u-

lar line p lan ning as well as man age ment of r olling

sto ck a nd cre ws . Inte rac tion b e tween a ll p ar ts of ?

th e hier archic ally deco mp osed plann in g pr o cess

M ar Co s t
ke t-

in g
has to be han dle d. or
F exam ple, an op timal tr ain

schedule is base d on the line pla n a nd will be

use d as inp u t to th e s ub seque nt crew pla nn in g.

The refo re, a p ro p o sed tra in sched ule may need

F ig . 2. As p ec ts of a sche d-

ada ptatio n or redesig n in o rder to mee t cer ta in

ule

requirements fr om othe r s ubp ro blem s.

2 M o de l

A railroad networ k is us ually m o dele d by a g rap h G = (V ; E ), where V de-

note s the set of n o des and E den ote s the set of edges. No des rep resent s ta tio ns

or im p o rtant network p oints like s witches, an d edges rep resent ra ilr oad track s

connectin g thes e p oints . ra in

T schedu lin g is b ased on a kn own line p la n th at

de n e s the line s, i.e . the p aths in the ne twork th a t have to be served by tr ains

with so me xed p er io d T . Th is se t of lines is de no te d by R. For a xed line

pla n, we have to c on struct a tra in sched ule which as sign s fea sib le de par tu re

an d ar riva l time s to the no des of a ll line s, cf. Fig. 3.

Sch e d
u le

Ne two r k Lin e P la n

(a r r iv
a
l
tim e
s)

:24 :10

:15

:18

:25

:08

:35

:56

:50
:40

F ig . 3. Ne two rk , line plan a nd sched u le for on e line

 Many re quirements on tr ain sched ule s can be m o deled by so-called "p eri-

o dical interva l con strai nts ". Here is a sh ort ex am ple. At some statio n travelers

wa nt to chan ge fro m line 1 to line 2. There fore , in a feas ible tr ain sche du le,

th e d i e re nce b e tween th e ar riva l of a tr ain of line 1 an d th e de pa rture of

th e corres p o ndin g tra in of line 2 has to stay with in a certa in inte rval. If the

di ere nce is to o sm all, tr aveler s m ay fail to reach the tr ain of line 2. On th e

othe r ha nd , if th e d i e re nce is to o large , the waiting time at the s ta tio n will

be inconve nient.

Fig. 4 shows this s itu atio n for a p erio d of T = 60 minu te s. If 8 {1 5 m inute s

are considered to be s uitab le, the n 6 8{7 5 minu te s are su ita ble as well, since

arr ivals a nd dep arture s re p ea t ever y h our .

arr iva
l
tim e

of line 1

feasi
bl
e
dep
ar tu
re

tim e of line 2 feasible time di e re nce in minute s

60 30 0 30 60 90 120

F ig . 4. S uita bl e di e ren ce s b e tween ar riva l of line 1 an d dep ar tu re of line 2

W
e m o de l such a "p erio dica l inte rva l con stra int" in th e fo llowing way.

1
If a is th e a rrival tim e of s ome tr ain of line 1 at s ta tion S the n we know

1
tha t the ar riva l time of any tr ain of line 1 at sta tion S is a + z 60 for some

2
z 2 Z Z. S im ila rly, the dep ar tu re time d of so me tra in of line 2 at statio n S

xes th e dep ar tu re tim es of a ll tra in s of line 2. There fo re, th e time di ere nce

requirement fo r all tra in s ca n be m o deled by

S S

2 1
8 d a z 60 15; z 2 Z Z: (1)

Many other req uire ments can be mo deled in a sim ilar way, e.g. he ad way

times b e tween tra ins on the sa me track a nd tr avel time s of tr ains b e tween sta-

tio ns. The pr oblem of n d ing a feas ible sched ule, i.e. a sched ule sa tisfy ing a s et

of p erio dica l interva l co ns tr aints is called PE SP ( Perio dica l Event Sched ul-

ing Pr ob lem) an d was intr o d uced in Se r a n i a nd Ukovich [ 1 4] in 1989 . The re

are several d i er ent algo rithm ic ap pro aches for s olving P ES Ps , e.g . imp lic it

enume ra tion me th o ds in [ 13, 1 4] and a cu ttin g plane me th o d in O dijk [ 12] .

o orh o eve' s
V algo rith m [ 15] is base d on a co ns tr aint p ro pag atio n.
 or
F feas ible tr ain sche du les, several ob jec tives have b een d iscu sse d in the

lite ra tu re. M in im iz in g to ta l travel time is imp or ta nt in or der to attrac t tr av-

elers. If tra in de lays a re essentia l, r obu stnes s of co nnections may well be as

im p o rtant. An obviou sl y di e re nt p o int of vie w ask s fo r th e max im iz atio n of

pro ts or th e m in im iza tion of cos ts. Cor dea u et a l. [ 6] s urvey o ptim iz atio n

mo dels fo r tra in ro utin g and sched uling .

Here, we pro p o se a ne w m o de l combinin g th e PESP with the minim iz a-

tio n of ce rta i n o p era tio na l cos ts th a t were intr o d uced by Claessen s [ 4,5] . e
W

sup p o se th at the r ailroad co mpa ny ha s th e choice of as sig nin g cer tai n tr ain

typ es to the lines . A tr ain ty p e is ch arac terized by sp eed , coach ca pac ity, an d

b o und s on the nu mb er of coaches , a nd c os t. Here , inves tme nt cos t pe r coach

and eng ine as well as mileage dep e ndent co st are included . a ster
F tr ains de-

crease the co nnection time s a long a line. If ch o os in g so me chea p tra in ty p e

for a line lea ds to an un avo idab le co n ict , a mo re exp en sive cho ice may be

necessary to nd fe asible schedu les. In our mo del, we min im iz e the c ost of

tra in ty p e ass ig nment fo r feas ible schedu les.

Th e o p era tio na l co sts of a sche du le de p en d on the nu mb er of required

engine s an d coaches as well as on the covered distance. e

W a ss ume th a t a

tra in cycles on one line only. Th e average sp ee d of a tr ain and th e le ng th of

a line prov id e an es tima te on th e time req uire d fo r o ne cycle a rou nd th e line.

If t deno tes th is cycle time , the n dt = T e tra ins a re require d to serve th e line.

The numb er of coache s of a tr ain a ssigned to a line mus t be large en oug h to

carry a ll the tr aveler s on the corres p on ding p aths .

In ma the ma tic al ter m s, we pr op o se a mixed integer linear pr og ram ming

(MI P) mo del containing a la rge numb er of variables , i.e.

x tr ain ty p e 2 T is u sed for line r 2 R ( bina ry)

r; r

w nu mb e r of coaches of ty p e fo r tra in s of line r 2 R ( intege r)

r;

a arr iva l time of o ne tra in of line r, with d irec tion , at s ta tio n v

r;

d depa rtur e time of one tra in of line r, with directio n , at sta tion v

r;

z vecto r of inte gers fo r the P ES P c on strai nts

wher e T den ote s the se t of tra in ty p es th a t can be ass igne d to a line r 2 R.

r

Th e directio n ca n e ithe r be 0 or 1, corres p o nding to the two d irectio ns of

each line.

Th e co mple te m o del, refer red to as m in im um cost scheduling pro blem

(M CSP), is shown in Fig. 5. e

W will explai n its pa rts in so me de ta il. The

ob je ctive func tio n s ums all c os ts. Its le ft p art co ntains the x cos ts. The

x
^

estim ated cycle time of tra in ty p e alo ng line r is den oted by t . C den otes
r;

xC

th e x c os t for one engine of ty p e , C th e x co st fo r one coach. The rig ht

pa rt of the su m c ontain s the milea ge co st ( p er kilo mete r). Here, d den ote s
r

the le ng th of line r.

W ith th e rst c on str ai nt cla ss, we a ssu re th a t th e ca paci ty of tra in s is

s u c ie ntly large to car ry all tr aveler s. The cap aci ty of one tr ain is the cap acity

of on e coach, deno ted by C , multiplied by the nu mb er of coaches w of the

r;

tra in . Su mm a tion over all tr ain s descr ib es the ava ila ble ca paci ty.
 min im ize

X X

x xC km kmC

^
dt =T e ( x C + w C ) + d ( x C + w C )
r; r; r; r r; r;

r 2R 2T
r

su b jec t to

X X

C w N for all e 2 E
r; e

r 2R ;r 3e 2T
r

w W x for all r 2 R and 2 T

r; r; r
W x
r;
X

x = 1
r;
for all r 2 R

2T
r

an d to PE S P ( m a ny p erio dica l inte rva l co ns tr aints) ,

an d to x 2 f0 ; 1g for all r 2 R and 2 T

r; r

w 2 ZZ for all 2 R and 2 T

r; r

a
2 I R
r;

for all r 2 R, v 2 r,

d
r; 2 I R

for all r 2 R, v 2 r,

z vector of intege r variable s for P ES P

F ig . 5. Th e min imu m c o st sched ulin g pr ob le m ( M CSP)

W ith the secon d co ns tra int cla ss, we assu re th at the nu mb er of coaches

for a tra in is feas ib le. The resp e ctive lower an d u p p er b o un ds a re deno ted

by a nd by W . In pa rtic ula r, if no tr ain of ty p e is ass igne d to th e line

W

r, i.e. x = 0, the n no coach for th is tr ain can be chose n, i.e. w = 0.

r; r;

W ith the thir d clas s of co ns tr aints, we a ssure th a t exac tly o ne tra in ty p e

is chose n fo r each line. A ll th ree clas ses of co ns tra ints involve o nly tra in ty p es

an d numb ers of the coaches of these tr ains.

or
F xed as sig nment of tra in ty p es to lines, a ll othe r con stra ints are p e-

rio d ical interval con str ai nts th at we alrea dy me ntio ned b efore (cf. Fig. 4)

describ in g a PE SP
. In par tic ula r, th e a rr ival a nd depa rture times of all tr ains

assigned to lines a re s ub ject to co ns tra ints s imila r to ine qu ality (1). For each

such con strai nt an inte ger varia ble mo dels the p erio d icity of the schedu le as

in ine qua lity ( 1). A ll these a nd all fur ther intege r variable s in the rem ainin g

PE S P con stra ints (e.g . waiting time s at s ta tio ns, head way e tc.) are collected

in a huge vecto r z .

Th e M CS P contain s s ubp ro blem s th at are ver y di c ult to so lve. The

optim a l choice of tr ain ty p es and the op tima l cho ice of nu mb ers of coaches

are b oth NP-h ard pro ble ms, an d th e ge nera tio n of a fea sib le schedule (the

PE S P) is NP-c om ple te (cf. [ 7] ) . On the o the r ha nd, the MI P m o de l p recise ly

state s which tra in schedu le we con side r as fea sib le a nd which co s t we want
to m in im ize . Mo reover, th e MI P for mu la tion en ables ea sy a dd itio n of o the r

requirements, e.g . ava ilab le nu mb e r of eng ines an d coaches of a certa i n ty p e,

with ou t des tr oying the struc tu re of the mo del. Th e h ig h ex ibility of MI P

mo dels is very helpful when m o delin g a nd so lving real wor ld ap plication s.

3 S o l u ti o n Al gori thm

Th e M CSP mo del is inte nde d fo r s tra teg ic and tac tic al r ailroad plann in g, i.e.

for lon g or me d iu m ter m decision s r athe r tha n fo r day- by-d ay o p era tio ns . In

order to p rovide a he lpful eva lu ation to ol for d i er ent networ k or tr ain ty p e

scenario s, on ly sh ort c om pu ta tio n time s , say so me minu te s, are acceptable

whe n s olv in g the m o de l fo r rea l wor ld M CS P in sta nces . u rtherm ore ,

F the

pla nner prefer s to u se sta nd ar d co mp ute r equ ip ment. or

F our te s t d ata like

th e Inter Ci ty or the InterRe gio network of Germ any an d the Ne ther la nd s, the

direc t a pp lica tion of som e commerc ia l M IP so lver re sulted in severa l h our s

or even day s of c om pu ta tion time on a 40 0 MHz Pentiu m II P C. or

F s ome

ins ta nces, its ma in me m or y of 256 MB wa s not s u c ie nt. O bvious ly, one has

to nd a mo re s op histicate d a ppr oach for so lvin g M CSP

.

Ou r ap pro ach is base d on dec om p os itio n. e

W c ons ider the m atrix of all

ob je ctive fu nctio n co e c ie nts a nd all co ns tr aint co e c ie nts of th e M CSP in

Fig. 6. G ray colo red blo cks will co ntain non zer o entrie s fo r the resp ective

variab les and the cor resp ond in g clas s of co nstra ints .

aria bles
V

w
x
z
a d

ob jec tive func tio n

tr avele r ca pac ity

>

numb e r of coache s

>

exac tl y o ne tr ain ty p e
M CTP

tr ave l time d ata

othe r PE S P c on stra ints

>

(fo r xed tra in ty p e s) FS P

F ig . 6. S tr uc tu re of o b jective fu nction and co ns tr ai nts of th e M CS P

W ith th e exceptio n of the x-var iab les in th e travel time da ta c ons tr ai nts,

th e m atr ix can be d ivided into a two- blo ck diagon al m a tr ix. Th e rst blo ck

represents th e pr ob lem of m in im iz ing co sts su b jec t to re quirements on th e

tra in s th a t ca n be ass igne d to line s. Th is s ub pr oble m will be called m in imu m

cos t train problem ( M CTP ). I ts op tima l s olutio n ass ign s tra in ty p es to th e

lines an d de n e s the numb er of coaches in each a ssigned tr ain o r, s ho r tly,

it a ssigns trains to lines . At this p o int, it is not clear whether a fea sib le

tra in sche dule fo r these tr ains exist s at a ll. For its existe nce, th e nu mb er of

coaches of the tr ain play s no ro le. There fo re, th e w-va riab les do not o ccu r in

th e con stra ints desc rib ing fea sible schedu les . However, fo r s ome xed tra in

type a ss ign men t, the se con stra ints for m th e secon d sub pr ob lem . This fea s i bl e

schedule problem ( FS P ) is a PE SP
.

or
F s olving M CSP
, we p ro p ose a b ranch- an d-b ou nd me th o d b ased on

these s ub pr oble ms. In par ticu la r, th e M CTP is u sed as relaxa tion of the

M CSP
.

B r a n ch - a n d - B o u n d Metho d

Th e me th o d is sh own in F ig. 7. Each br anch- and- b ound no de rep resents an

M CS P fo r wh ich o nly a certain su bse t of tra in ty p e a ssign ments is allowe d.

In each n o de, we solve the cor resp ond ing M CTP relaxatio n. If the co sts for

th e o ptim al M CTP tr ain a ss ign ment are less th an th e co sts of th e cur rently

b es t k nown M CS P tra in a ssignme nt, we try to nd a feas ible schedu le of the

M CTP tr ain as sig nment. In o ther word s, we s olve th e FSP fo r the xe d tr ain

typ e ass ig nment d e ne d by the op tima l tr ain ass ig nment of the M CTP
. If

we nd s uch a fea sib le tra in sched ule , the n we have a b ette r M CS P tra in

ass ign ment. Other wise, we b ranch on c on ic tin g line s. or

F infe asible FSP, we

deter mine a set of lines tha t c ause in feas ib ili ty. For each of thes e lines, we

generate a new M CS P fo r wh ich the tr ain ty p e a ss igne d to this line in the

optim a l s olutio n of th e previou s M CTP is fo rb id den . or

F details, we refer

to [ 8] a nd [ 1 0] .

S o lv in g MC TPs

Un fo rtun ate ly, whe n d irec tly app lie d to M CTP of rea l world size , comme rcia l

solvers may s till nee d m any h our s of c om pu ta tio n time. or

F its rep ea te d use

within a b ranch-an d-b ou nd sche me, we pr op ose a reformulatio n with the

followin g b ina ry varia bles

w line r use s tra in ty p e with c co aches

r; ;c

Due to th e de n itio n of th e b in ar y var iables , the co ns tr aints for the nu mb ers

of coaches are imp lic itly h an dled . There fo re the res ultin g bin ary MI P m o de l,

cf. Fig. 8, ha s less co nstra ints . Th ou g h the nu mb er of va ria bles is co nsidera bly

increase d in co mpa ris on with the p revio us m o del, we are able to solve th is

bin ar y m o de l much faste r s ince th e corres p o nd in g LP- relax atio n is pr ova bly

b e tte r.

Some fur ther acceleration is p os sib le using su ita ble classes of cu tting

plane s. As a simple exam pl e fo r s uch a co ns tra int, we co nsider a n etwo rk

edge with N traveler s wh ich is serve d by exa ctly two lines , say line 1 a nd
e

line 2. The n , fo r each d 2 f1; : : : ; N g eithe r line 1 carr ies at le ast d tr avelers
e
 S ta r t

Initializ e p ro ble m lis t L with

the o rig ina l M CSP

.

yes

S to p (c ur rent be st is o p tim al)

Is the pr o ble m list L e m p ty ?

no

Ch o o se a p ro ble m P fro m L.

So lve the M CTP fo r P .

no

Op tima l co sts < c os ts of

curre nt be st tra in as sign ment?

yes
Th is tr ai n as sign ment replaces

yes
-

curre nt be st tr ain as sign ment.

Op tima l tr ain a ss ig nme nt

can be sched ule d?

no

Add su bp r ob lem s to L with:

som e c on ictin g op tim a l tr ain

ty p e a ss ig nme nt is for bidde n.

F ig . 7. B r anch-a n d-b o un d me th o d fo r M CS P s olu tion

or line 2 carrie s at least N d traveler s. The refo re, the re h as to be at le as t

e

one feas ible \tr ain an d coach " a ssignme nt with s u c ie nt c apac ity to one of

thes e lines . In te rm s of th e \tr ain a nd coach " ass ig nment va ria bles w , we
r; ;c

may describ e th is imp lied req uirement by the line ar ineq ua lity

w 1: ( 2)
X 2; ; c

w +
( ; c) f easi ble for li ne 1
1; ; c

c C d

( ; c) f easi ble for li ne 2

C
N
e
d

S o lv in g FS Ps

Solv in g an FS P is eq uivalent to n din g an integr al solutio n to a se t of linear

inequ alities. Aga in , th e s tr aig htfo r wa rd app lica tion of s ome c ommerc ia l MI P

solver lead s to un acceptab ly h ig h co mp u ta tion time s. On the o the r h an d,

we already ob serve d th a t F SPs are P E SP s. The re are several combin atorial

alg or ith ms fo r s olv ing a P ESP

, e.g . the algo rithm of Se ra n i an d Ukovich.

An enume ra tion schem e for a ll p os sib le values for the z -variables form s the

crucial pa r t of th is a lgo rith m. Th e enumer atio n sche me p ro p o sed by S er a n i

an d Ukov ich is on ly su ita ble for sm all P E SP s. W

e h ave deve lop e d a mo re

e e cti ve scheme so th a t ins ta nces of the s ize of our FS Ps can be so lved in

an accep ta ble am ou nt of time . or

F de tails a nd more infor ma tion on P ES P

alg or ith ms , we refer to [ 9] .

In vie w of the use of FS P s in th e b ranch- an d-b ou nd me th o d, it is im-

p o rtant to ana lyz e in feasible FS Ps . In feas ib ility lead s to a b ranch in g ste p

 W
X X X

x xC km kmC

^
m in dt =T e (C + c C ) + d (C + c C ) w
r; r r; ; c

r 2R 2Tr c=W

W
X X X

N fo r each e 2 E
C c w r; ; c e

r 2R ;r 3e 2Tr c=W

W
X X

w = 1 fo r each r 2 R
r; ; c

2Tr c=W

F ig . 8. B in ar y variable for mu la tio n of the M CTP

with the gener atio n of ne w su bp rob lem s. In orde r to keep the size of the

branch-an d-b ou nd tre e as sma ll as p o ssible, it see ms to be pre ferab le to gen-

erate on ly fe w su bp ro blem s. In th e a lg or ithm of Ser a ni an d Ukovich, one

can some time s easily identify a sma ll se t of tr ain as sig nments to lines which

im ply infea sibility.

4 Results

e st
T da ta for o ur a lgo rith ms are real ne two rks fro m the Germ an ra ilr oad com-

pany Deutsche B ah n ( D B) an d from th e ra ilr oad co mpa ny of the Ne the rland s

Neder lan dse Spo rwegen ( NS) . or

F the Ge rma n r ailroad , we use d network

da ta , line p lan s, o rig in des tina tion ma tr ices and c os t d ata fo r the I nter City

(IC) a nd I nte rReg io (I R) networks . or

F th e D utch railroa d, we ob tained the

resp ec tive da ta fo r the I nte rReg io ( IR) , I nte r City (I C) an d Ag gloReg io (AR)

su pp ly ne twork s.

Som e char acter is tics of these in stance s are d is playe d in able

T 1. For a ll

ins ta nces, 4 di e re nt tr ain ty p es have b een considered.

DB-I C D B- I R NS- I C NS-I R NS - A R

Nu mb e r of No de s 90 297 36 38 122

Nu mb e r of E dge s 107 384 48 40 134

Nu mb e r of Lines 31 89 25 21 117

A verage nu mb er of edge s pe r line 7.5 5.9 5.0 5.8 4.2

T
a b le 1. So me ch arac ter is tics of the railro ad ne tworks

As an exa mp le, th e Inte r City ne two rk of th e Nether la nd s is sh own in

Fig. 9. Co st op timal lines for th is a nd o the r D u tch ne twork s were gene ra ted

in [ 3] .
 Lw Gn

Asn

Hr

Zl

Asd Aml

H lm

Shl H gl

Dv

Ap d
Dvd

A mf

Le d n Es

Gv

Gd Ed

G vc

Ut

Ah

Rt d

Nm

Ddr

Ht

Rsd Bd

Tb

E hv

Vl

Wt

Rm

Std

H rl

Mt

F ig . 9. I nte r City networ k of the Ne ther la n ds

In o rder to g uar antee s uitab le ar rival and de par tu re time s fo r tr avelers

chang in g tra ins , we stud ie d th e in ue nc e of res p ec tive p erio dical inte rval

cons tra ints at im p o rtant s ta tion s, c f. able

T 2.

W ith the exce ptio n of th e D utch Agg loRe gi o n etwo rk, wh ich is a ve ry

large ne twork, o ur br anch- and- b ound app roach is ve ry fas t. Even whe n we en-

force ar riva ls and dep artures su itable fo r travelers chan gin g train s (by a dd ing

40 p er io d ical inte rval c ons tr ai nts), we gener ate near ly o ptim al tr ain schedu les

within 5 min.

or
F la rger networks, regiona l dec om p os itio n may be pr omising. At r s t,

the network is pa rtitio ned into several regiona l network s which a llow fa st

op timiza tion . The n, the co rresp on din g par tial tr ain schedu les are co mbined

to a tr ain sched ule of the co mp lete n etwo rk. The co mb ina tion s te p will req uire

some inte r active cor rectio ns which m ay be su p p o rte d by c om pu ter ize d to ols.
 Instance DB-I C D B- IR NS-I C NS -I R NS- A R

Nu mb er of ad de d co ns tr ai nts 0 0 0 0 0

er i e d
V o ptimu m fo u nd in 219 s 4 s 30 s 33 s 0: 4
7
h

O ptim ality ga p a fte r 5 minute s 0% 0% 0% 0% {*

Ins ta nce DB-I C D B- IR NS-I C NS -I R NS- A R

40 40 40 40 40
Nu mb er of ad de d co ns tr ai nts

9: 3 1 h 1 22 s 1 4: 0 0 h 1: 2 0 h 1: 2 4 h

er i e d
V o ptimu m fo u nd in

0.39% 0.27% {*
O ptim ality ga p a fte r 5 minute s 0.10% 0%

*n o s olutio n in 5 minutes

T
a b le 2. Re s ult s fo r te s t ins ta nce s with o u t and with a dde d co ns tr ai nts

In ma nua l sched ule plan ning, regio na l deco mp os itio n is a wel l es tab lished

appro ach.

5 C o n c lu s i o n s

W ith o ur me th o d for m in im iz in g co sts of tr ain schedu les, tr a c p la nners

may inte rac tive ly gener ate or evaluate d i er ent scenar ios. W
e imp leme nte d a

pr oto ty p e th at v isu alize s tra in s in the network , cf. Fig. 1 0. In p ar ticu lar , we

disp lay the cur rent p os ition s of all tr ain s in the network . ra in s
T are rep re-

sente d by squa res numb ere d with the co rres p on ding line. Di e rent colors of

squa res ind ica te d i e re nt tr ain ty p es.

As a lrea dy me ntio ned , sched ule pla nn in g is

only one su bp ro ble m of tr a c plann in g. r adi-

T

tio na lly and with goo d re ason s, the h ig hly c om-

Dem an d an alys is

plex plan ning pr o cess is h ierarch ically decom-

p o sed, cf. F ig. 11. An s urve y on th e ap plication

Line plan ning

of ma the ma tic al p ro gra mm ing meth o d s for the se

sub pr oble ms is give n in [ 1] . Th e solution of the

Sche du le p la nn in g

line p lan ning pro ble m h as a lrea dy b ee n the sub-

ject of a for mer BM BF- fu n ded pr o jec t (see [ 2] ) .

Of course , it is well k nown th at decisio ns on

Sto ck p la nn in g

di e re nt levels are not at all inde p ende nt. For

examp le, any cha nge in the tr an sp or ta tio n ser-

Cre w p la nn in g

vice, e.g. a ne w line p la n or a ne w sched ule , will

in u enc e th e trave lers' b ehav io r. r avel

T de ma nd

F ig . 11. Hierarch ical tr af-

da ta use d in th e deve lop ment of a schedu le will

c p lan nin g

not m atch travel d em and after the intro duc tion

of th at sche dule . In o rder to ha ndle such d if-

cu lties, schedu le plan ner s tr y to simu la te the

tr aveler s' b ehavior an d to es tima te the ac tu al e ec t of a ne w schedu le. Th ey

ite ra tive ly gener ate a sched ule ba sed on dem and d ata, th e n es tima te th e ne w
 F ig . 10. V is u aliz atio n of a sched ule (sc reen s ho t)

dema nd re su ltin g from th e sched ule e tc. until chan ges in sched ule an d de-

ma n d d ata b ecom e ins ig ni ca nt. U nfo rtun ate ly, no m athem atica l a rg ument

is known tha t gu ara ntee s s ome k ind of co nvergence for s uch an ap proach.

Ack n owle d g e m e nt s e
W wou ld like to exp res s o ur th a nks for enco urage-

ment, s up p or t and d ata ma de ava ilab le by Ad tra n z S ign al ( Br au nschwe ig),

Dr. M. Krista (Line as , Br au nschweig) a nd P rof. D r. L. Kr o o n (R ailne d, the

Nether la nd s).

R e fe r e n c e s

1. M .R . B us sieck , T. W inte r a nd U. T. Zim me rm a nn . D isc rete o ptimiz atio n in

pu blic ra il tr a ns p or t. M ath. Progra m min g, 79 ( 1 {3 ) 41 5{4 44 , 199 7.

 2. M .R . B us sieck , M. Kris ta , K.- D . Wie ga n d and U. T. Zimm er m an n. Linie no pti-

mie ru ng { M o dellier ung u nd pr aktischer Eins a tz, in K.-H. H o m an n , W. J ager,

T. Lo h m an n a nd H. Schnuck , ed itor s. M a the m a tik { Sch lu s seltec hn o log ie fu r

die Zuk u n ft, S pr in ger , 19 97.

3. M .R. Bu ss ieck. O ptima l Lines in Pu blic Ra il r an s p o rt.

T P hD the sis, e chn ische
T

Un iver sita t B ra un schwe ig, 1 998.

4. M . T. Claes sens. De ko st- lijnvo e rin g. Ma ste r's the s is , U nive rs ity of A m ster d a m,

1994.

5. M . T. Clae ssen s, N. M. va n Dijk a nd P.J . Zwaneve ld . Cos t op tim al allo c atio n

of r ail pa ssen ger lines. E uropea n J. Ope r. Re s., 110 ( 3) 474 {4 89, 1998.

6. J.-F. Co rde au , .
P o th
T an d D. Vig o. A S u rve y of O ptimiz atio n M o de ls for

rain
T R o utin g and Sched ulin g. ra n spo rta tio n
T Scie nce , 32 ( 4), 380 {40 4, 1998 .

7. M .R . Ga rey and D. S. J oh ns o n. Com p u te r s and I ntrac tab ility | A G uide to

the Th eor y of NP- Co m p le te ne ss . ree ma n

F and Com p any, 197 9.

8. T. Lin dne r. r ain

T Sched u le O ptimiz ation in P ub lic Ra il ra ns p or t.
T P hD the s is,

e chnische
T U nive rs it at Br au nschweig , in pre pa ra tion , 200 0.

9. T. Lin dne r an d K. Nachtiga ll. Per io d ica l Event Sche du ling . e chn ica l
T R e p o rt,

D LR, Br au nschweig, in pre pa ra tion , 2 000.

10. T. Lin dne r an d U . T. Zim me rm a nn . Cos t O ptima l Train Sched u ling , in prep a-

ra tion , 200 0.

11. K. Nachtiga ll. Per io dic Ne two rk O ptimiz atio n and F ixe d Inte rva l Tim etab le s.

Hab ilitatio ns schr ift. Un iver sit a t Hilde she im, 1998 .

12. M . A. O dijk. A c on stra int gene ra tion a lgo rith m fo r th e co ns tr uc tio n of p erio dic

railway time ta b les . ra ns po rta tio n

T Re search B, 30 ( 6) , 19 96.

13. A. Sch rijver a nd A. Steenb eek . D ien stre geling ontwikkeling vo or R ailne d. e ch-
T

nica l Re p o r t, Ce ntr u m vo o r W isk u nd e en In fo rm atica , 1 994.

14. .
P Se r a n i and W. Ukov ich. A m a them a tic a l m o de l fo r p erio dic sche du ling

pr ob lem s. SI AM J. D is c. M a th. 2 ( 4), 1989 .

15. M. o or ho eve .
V R ail Sche du lin g with Discre te Se ts . U n pu blis he d re p or t, E in d-

hove n Un iver sity of e chn ology,

T Th e Ne the rlan d s, 1993.