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Optimal Circulation of Empty Freight RailCars by Assuming Cooperation Among Shipping Companies in the Rail Network

Gandomkar Ghalhar, Arash | 2019

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 52294 (09)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Civil Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Shafahi, Yousef
  7. Abstract:
  8. This research is focused on optimization of empty freight railcars circulation by assuming cooperation among shipping companies. The objectives are twofold: first, to develop an efficient and effective model which can provide a useful management tool to improve freight car utilization for shipping companies; second, to show the advantages of Horizontal Logistics Cooperation (HLC).Two formulations have been developed for the empty railcar distribution problem, both seeking to find how railcars move not only at the lowest possible cost but also at the lowest possible delays under supply limitation and demand satisfaction. The problem is first formulated as a single-commodity network flow model for freight wagons. A multi-commodity network flow model is then presented to cover the nature of load demand.Both models are complex and difficult to solve due to the huge number of constraints and integer decision variables. Therefore, an innovative approach has been offered to find the optimal solution based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) and decomposition method which leads to acceptable solutions.The Iranian Railway Network has been selected as a case study. Analysis of the results reveals that the alliance among rail transport companies improves system profitability and overall efficiency of the fleet
  9. Keywords:
  10. Optimization ; Multi-Commodity Network Flow ; Empty Freight Railcar Circulation ; Rail Distribution ; Horizontal Cooperation

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