Strategies for effective rail track capacity use

Mathematical modeling techniques are used to route and schedule trains on a railway network to minimize the travel time delays. A simulation-based delay estimation methodology is developed to estimate the travel-time delay over a given rail network. These estimates can be used to reject or defer shipments that could cause congestion in the network. Efficient solutions are necessary to obtain an effective capacity planning and scheduling system for train networks. This research aims to develop the first quantitative model to accept, defer or reject shipments on a railroad, with decisions based on an accurate representation of the delays these shipments cause and the possibility of real-time rerouting trains to alternative tracks.