Publication

image

Abstract

We address the problem of simultaneously scheduling trains and planning preventive maintenance time slots (PMTSs) on a general railway network. Based on network cumulative flow variables, a novel integrated mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed to simultaneously optimize train routes, orders and passing times at each station, as well as work-time of preventive maintenance tasks (PMTSs). In order to provide an easy decomposition mechanism, the limited capacity of complex tracks is modelled as side constraints and a PMTS is modelled as a virtual train. A Lagrangian relaxation solution framework is proposed, in which the difficult track capacity constraints are relaxed, to decompose the original complex integrated train scheduling and PMTSs planning problem into a sequence of single train-based sub-problems. For each sub-problem, a standard label correcting algorithm is employed for finding the time-dependent least cost path on a time-space network. The resulting dual solutions can be transformed to feasible solutions through priority rules. Numerical experiments are conducted on a small artificial network and a real-world network adapted from a Chinese railway network, to evaluate the effectiveness and computational efficiency of the integrated optimization model and the proposed Lagrangian relaxation solution framework. The benefits of simultaneously scheduling trains and planning PMTSs are demonstrated, compared with a commonly-used sequential scheduling method.

Keywords

Integrated optimization,    Train scheduling,    Preventive maintenance time slots (PMTSs) planning,    Cumulative flow variables,    Lagrangian relaxation

Highlights

• Simultaneously schedule trains and plan preventive maintenance time slots (PMTSs).
• Build an integrated optimization model through describing PMTSs as virtual trains.
• Propose a Lagrangian relaxation solution framework to solve the proposed model.
• At least 25% improvement in solution quality can be achieved in our experiments.

原文传递: https:/www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X17301237