Article

Challenges raised by freight for the operations planning of a mixed-use rail network. A French perspective

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Abstract

Operating rail infrastructures that are shared among different uses is complex. In Western Europe, the predominance of passenger traffic over freight has traditionally led to thorough scheduling of capacity use, with an increasing tendency to anticipate through the design of regular-interval timetables. The paper discusses the specific challenges posed by fitting freight into the timetabling process for a mixed-use rail network, based on current French experience. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of the infrastructure manager. It is mainly supported by the results of a series of about 30 interviews, carried out in 2012 and 2013 with the parties involved in the timetabling process. The paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the process in terms of organization, rules and practices, with an emphasis on the characteristics of freight traffic compared with passenger traffic. The author highlights three key management issues for the French infrastructure manager when dealing with freight: (1) the uncertainty surrounding the mid-long term development of the rail freight market at the national level; (2) the heterogeneity resulting from the diversity of commodities, convoys and profiles and behaviors of the capacity applicants; (3) the volatility of some freight traffic resulting in a great amount of activity in the later stages of the timetabling process. If uncertainty about the future appears to be a highly sensitive issue in the French context, heterogeneity and volatility of freight traffic can be perceived as management challenges that may be experienced, to a greater or lesser degree, on other rail networks.

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... Автор статті дає огляд процесів організації, правил і практики залізничних перевезень і виділяє три ключові проблеми управління для керівництва французьких залізниць при роботі з вантажами: невизначеність середньострокових перспектив розвитку ринку вантажних перевезень на національному рівні; складність у використанні інфраструктури внаслідок різноманітності номенклатури вантажів і товарів, що надаються до перевезення; нерівномірність в обсягах вантажних перевезень, що призводить до необхідності врахування цього при плануванні перевезень. Ці проблеми притаманні не тільки французьким залізницям, а їх досвід в умовах українських залізниць може бути застосовано для покращення процедур управління вантажними перевезеннями [3]. ...
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У статті розглянуто проблеми експлуатації малодіяльних ділянок залізниць України. Визначено поняття малодіяльних ділянок та станцій, їх позиціювання в системі залізничного транспорту. Аналізуються результати наукових досліджень основних напрямків діяльності і розвитку малодіяльних ділянок залізниць. Запропоновано методи підвищення ефективності функціонування малодіяльних ділянок і станцій, таких як концентрація вантажів на опорних станціях, застосування мобільних вантажно-розвантажувальних комплексів та створення логістичних центрів.
... It is related to the planning time horizons in the timetabling process. As shown with French figures by Morvant (2013), passenger and freight traffic have actually two different train path request profiles. As passenger traffic requires early planning (up to several years before the trains run), freight rather leads to an intense activity later in the process (i.e. ...
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