Multi-objective model for optimizing railway infrastructure asset renewal

Trabalho inspirado num problema real da empresa Infraestruturas de Portugal, EP.A multi-objective model for managing railway infrastructure asset renewal is presented. The model aims to optimize three objectives, while respecting operational constraints: levelling investment throughout multiple years, minimizing total cost and minimizing work start postponements. Its output is an optimized intervention schedule. The model is based on a case study from a Portuguese infrastructure management company, which specified the objectives and constraints, and reflects management practice on railway infrastructure. The results show that investment levelling greatly influences the other objectives and that total cost fluctuations may range from insignificant to important, depending on the condition of the infrastructure. The results structure is argued to be general and suggests a practical methodology for analysing trade-offs and selecting a solution for implementation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Large scale railway renewal planning with a multiobjective modeling approach

Conferência realizada na Filândia, Helsinquia, de 20-24 de agosto de 2018A multiobjective modeling approach for managing large scale railway infrastructure asset renewal is presented. An optimized intervention project schedule is obtained considering operational constraints in a three objectives model: evenly spreading investment throughout multiple years, minimizing total cost, minimizing work start postponements on higher priority railway sections. The MILP model was based on a real world case study; the objectives and constraints specified by an infrastructure management company. Results show that investment spreading greatly influences the other objectives and that total cost fluctuations depend on the overall condition of the railway infrastructure. The model can produce exact efficient solutions in reasonable time, even for very large-sized instances (a test network of similar size to the USA railway network, the largest in the world). The modeling approach is therefore a very useful, practical methodology, for generating optimized solutions and analyzing trade-offs among objectives, easing the task of ultimately selecting a solution and produce the works schedule for field implementation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ABOUT THE NEED FOR PERFORMING TRAINING AND INCREASING THE QUALIFICATION OF DISPATCHERS AND MOVEMENT MANAGERS IN RAILWAY TRANSPORT

The modern movement of trains in railway transport is a high-tech process related to the management of their movement through modern technical and information systems. The construction and modernization of these systems is cyclical and usually coincides with the rehabilitation and modernization of railway transport. These systems mainly employ mid and high management staff, namely traffic managers and train dispatchers of the respective railway sections. This publication discusses the contemporary aspects and perspectives for carrying out professional training and enhancing the qualifications of traffic managers and train dispatchers in railway transport. In fulfilling this objective, the functional characteristics, parameters and capabilities of the implemented concrete systems are taken into account, namely the company "TALES", which has implemented several projects in Bulgaria in recent years.The modern movement of trains in railway transport is a high-tech process related to the management of their movement through modern technical and information systems. The construction and modernization of these systems is cyclical and usually coincides with the rehabilitation and modernization of railway transport. These systems mainly employ mid and high management staff, namely traffic managers and train dispatchers of the respective railway sections. This publication discusses the contemporary aspects and perspectives for carrying out professional training and enhancing the qualifications of traffic managers and train dispatchers in railway transport. In fulfilling this objective, the functional characteristics, parameters and capabilities of the implemented concrete systems are taken into account, namely the company "TALES", which has implemented several projects in Bulgaria in recent years

MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES EFFICIENCY IN THE RAILWAY ENTERPRISES

The article describes the development trend of environmental management systems in railway transport and the importance of the impact of transport factors to ensure ecological and economic security of the society. Development management instrumentation of processing of environmental systems in railway transport is aimed at maintaining the global interest in reducing pollution and possible damage of the environment to ensure ecological and economic security of the country. The main objective of the development of environmental management systems in railway transport should be inextricably linked with the main goal of the human ecology. The basis of the human ecology is to maintain equilibrium within humanity and the outside world and its environment. Improving environmental activities of the company is achieved by applying a systematic approach. The proposed criteria for evaluating the best project options and directions of improvement of greening the economy are the basis for the establishment of a mechanism of transition to sustainable development of railway industry. The authors of the analysis of ecological and economic indicators of the enterprises of the railway industry and ecological and economic assessment of investment in the environmental management system in railway transport from In the article the formation of approaches to environmental management decisions at the enterprises of the railway industry was substantiated.The article describes the development trend of environmental management systems in railway transport and the importance of the impact of transport factors to ensure ecological and economic security of the society. Development management instrumentation of processing of environmental systems in railway transport is aimed at maintaining the global interest in reducing pollution and possible damage of the environment to ensure ecological and economic security of the country. The main objective of the development of environmental management systems in railway transport should be inextricably linked with the main goal of the human ecology. The basis of the human ecology is to maintain equilibrium within humanity and the outside world and its environment. Improving environmental activities of the company is achieved by applying a systematic approach. The proposed criteria for evaluating the best project options and directions of improvement of greening the economy are the basis for the establishment of a mechanism of transition to sustainable development of railway industry. The authors of the analysis of ecological and economic indicators of the enterprises of the railway industry and ecological and economic assessment of investment in the environmental management system in railway transport from In the article the formation of approaches to environmental management decisions at the enterprises of the railway industry was substantiated

Erie & Niagara Railway Collection, 1864-1884

William Alexander Thomson (1816-1878) was a promoter and developer of railway systems in western Ontario. He incorporated the Fort Erie Railroad Company in 1857, purchased the Erie and Ontario Railroad in 1863, and incorporated the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway Company in 1868 (later renamed the Canada Southern Railway). Thomson was also elected to the House of Commons for Welland in 1872, and re-elected in 1874. He was known for his support of public management of the currency and is seen as a pioneer advocate of government monetary policy. He was also an advocate of radical agrarian economic doctrine, believing that Canadian laws favoured mercantile interests over those of the producers of goods, and that this hindered national development.The collection includes 2 letters written by William A. Thomson, a letter addressed to William Thomson by Macalester, a letter written by Lavinia Thomson, and a sheet of 40 Erie & Niagara Railway Company bonds

The Rothschild House business network in Spain as an example of entrepreneurial decision-taking and management structure.

In the period between 1835 and 1931 the Rothschild House established one of the most complex and influential business networks in Spanish economic history. This network controlled a wide range of activities, including financial services for the Spanish Government and the Bank of Spain, as well as the management of industrial, mining and railway firms. Instances of these firms are Rio Tinto Co., Société Minière et Metallurgique Peñarroya, MZA railway company and Deutsch & Cie, which was the main oil refining firm in Spain at the end of the 19th century.Spain 1835-1931, Rothschild, networks, Weisweiller, Bauer, foreign investments in Spain, railways, mining and refining companies, international raw material market, Public Finances, entrepreneurial function, agency problems, rent-seeking.

European Railway Comparisons – Company Profiles

This work was undertaken as part of a project sponsored by the British Railways Board entitled `European Railway Comparisons'. The aims of this project are as follows: (i)To compare the current efficiency of European railway operators and examine recent trends at both aggregate and disaggregate levels. (ii)To assess the effects of economies of scale and economies of density on European rail operations. (iii)To make an exploratory assessment of the potential for further disaggregation by market type (InterCity, Commuter, Freight) in order to make detailed comparisons of market shares. The main methods employed to carry out this study are as follows: (i)A review of the literature on railway cost and productivity analysis. Preliminary findings are given in Working Paper 354 and a paper presented to the World Conference on Transport Research (Nash, C.A. and Preston, J.M. (1992) "Assessing the Performance of European Railways"). (ii)Collation of published data for 13 European State Railway Operators. (iii)Face to face interviews with managers at the 13 State Railway companies in order to check our understanding of published data sources, gain more infomation at a disaggregate level (administered by a self completion questionnaire) and obtain an understanding of the institutional background. This report summarises some of the background information that was obtained from the interviews undertaken in the summer of 1992. A company profile is developed for each operator under four main headings: Objectives and Management, Finance, the Freight Market and the Passenger Market

Organizing the Development of the High-Speed Railway Network and Measures Taken on Parallel Conventional Railways in Japan since the 1990s

Japan’s nationwide railway network is narrow gauge (1067 mm). By contrast, the high-speed railway, which started service in 1964, is standard gauge (1435 mm). Narrow-gauge railway lines, or “conventional lines,” and standard-gauge high-speed railway lines, or “Shinkansen,” are independent of each other and do not connect directly or mix. However, as railway technology has advanced and the Japanese government has expanded the high-speed railway network throughout Japan, limited sections of the Shinkansen and conventional lines now operate interconnectedly. Deteriorating market share and labor-management relations led to the Japanese National Railways (J.N.R.), which had operated Japan’s high-speed railway system, being declared bankrupt in 1987. The JR Passenger Company, which took over J.N.R.’s railroad business, also took over the management of the high-speed railways. The Japanese government established clear rules for the expansion plan of the high-speed railway network after reforming the J.N.R. Therefore, this study briefly introduces Japan’s high-speed railway network, starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, the first to open, and explains measures taken for the JR conventional lines that run parallel to the high-speed railways

The Selection of a Possible Organizational Structure of Railway Companies by Application Fuzzy-ARAS Method

The European railway sector doesn't represent a single, generic type of organizational structure. The Directives from the 1990s offer the possibility for national interpretation giving a wide range of organizational structures for European railways. Different organizational structures of railways are present in the European railway market, and all of them are aligned with the national belief of the country - how to manage the railway. This paper focuses on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods for ranking and selecting organizational structures of railways. In decision-making, we deal with different types of uncertainty and inaccuracy. For this purpose, we need to use some specific tools. In this paper, we use triangular fuzzy numbers to quantify linguistic data. To overcome the complexity of the decision-making problem, we propose the fuzzy Additive Ratio ASsessment (ARAS) method, which also includes linguistic variables and a group approach to decision-making. With the proposed methodology an evaluation of the alternatives to the organization structure of the railway company in Bosnia and Herzegovina is considered. Separation of railway transport from infrastructure management is ranked as the best organizational structure for this company