Mathematical Framework for Determining the Optimal Variant of Freight Train Formation Plan

Abstract

Freight train formation plan plays an essential role in organizing freight transport in rail hub – and – spoke networks. The optimal organization of wagons flow, to be more precise to determine the most rational system of train formation, represents one of the basic issues of rail traffic organization. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify those mathematical models that can help us reach the optimal variant of train formation plan. The present papers aim to present a mathematical and theoretical framework of some of these methods – the conjugate analytical comparisons method and direct analytical calculation method – and their main advantages and disadvantages based on numerical examples