Multimodal Freight networks. Analysis with NODUS methodology and applications

This contribution presents the GIS based software NODUS that provides a tool for detailed analyses of freight transport over extensive multimodal networks. It is built around the systematic use of the concept of "virtual links" which enables the development of a network analysis modelling all transport operations by different modes, means and roads including all interface services in nodal platforms and terminals. The virtual network can be automatically generated by means of an algorithm embedded in NODUS. The contribution presents an overview of the applied methodology: the procedure for building the virtual network with a special notation of virtual links which permits to attach the cost functions (or weights) specific to each specific transport to each virtual links. NODUS has successfully been applied to study large-scale network optimisation problems. In this paper, four different areas of application are highlighted: policy analysis, market analysis, infrastructure analysis and