Increasing Railway Efficiency and Capacity Through Improved Operations, Control and Planning

Abstract

In chapter 5, I develop a new decision support framework to help capacity planners determine how to optimize the allocation of capital investment for capacity expansion projects. This framework has three stand-alone tools: (1) an "Alternatives Generator" that enumerates possible expansion options along with their cost and capacity effects; (2) an "Investment Selection Model" that determines which portions of the network (at the subdivision level) need to be upgraded with what kind of capacity improvement options; and (3) an "Impact Analysis Module" that evaluates the tradeoff between capital investment and delay cost. Based on network characteristics, estimated future demand, and available budget, the proposed decision support framework can successfully determine the optimal solution regarding which subdivisions need to be upgraded and what kind of engineering options should be conducted. Such a tool will help railroads maximize their return from capacity expansion projects and thus be better able to provide reliable service to their customers, and return on shareholder investment. Such a decision support framework is highly beneficial for optimizing the budget planning for expanding the capacity of North American railroads.