IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orinte/v50y2020i4p213-224.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving Intermodal Train Operations in Indian Railways

Author

Listed:
  • Amit Upadhyay

    (Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, 721302 West Bengal, India)

Abstract

In Indian Railways, container train operators (CTOs) run intermodal trains. The success of a CTO depends on it providing timely delivery of containers at low haulage cost. The CTO must utilize its rolling stock efficiently, select containers, and assign these containers to wagons optimally considering multiple conflicting requirements. I discuss a mathematical programming–based approach we developed for a major CTO for train-load planning, which reduces the average cost of container haulage and increases the timeliness desired by customers. After being used to plan more than 1,000 trains, my model has been estimated to save about 2% in rail haulage cost, which corresponds to an annual saving of more than 300 million Indian rupees for Indian Railways trains. This study has led to a remarkable turnaround in the operations strategy of the operator, with a shift in emphasis from increasing train utilization to maximizing the contribution to profit.

Suggested Citation

  • Amit Upadhyay, 2020. "Improving Intermodal Train Operations in Indian Railways," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 50(4), pages 213-224, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:50:y:2020:i:4:p:213-224
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.2020.1035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/inte.2020.1035
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/inte.2020.1035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Upadhyay, Amit & Gu, Weihua & Bolia, Nomesh, 2017. "Optimal loading of double-stack container trains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-22.
    2. Katta G. Murty & Yat-wah Wan & Jiyin Liu & Mitchell M. Tseng & Edmond Leung & Kam-Keung Lai & Herman W. C. Chiu, 2005. "Hongkong International Terminals Gains Elastic Capacity Using a Data-Intensive Decision-Support System," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 61-75, February.
    3. Yung-Cheng Lai & Yanfeng Ouyang & Christopher P. L. Barkan, 2008. "A Rolling Horizon Model to Optimize Aerodynamic Efficiency of Intermodal Freight Trains with Uncertainty," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 466-477, November.
    4. Nils Boysen & Malte Fliedner & Florian Jaehn & Erwin Pesch, 2013. "A Survey on Container Processing in Railway Yards," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(3), pages 312-329, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhongbin Zhao & Xifu Wang & Suxin Cheng & Wei Liu & Lijun Jiang, 2022. "A New Synchronous Handling Technology of Double Stack Container Trains in Sea-Rail Intermodal Terminals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1, September.
    2. Amir Gharehgozli & Debjit Roy & Suruchika Saini & Jan-Kees Ommeren, 2023. "Loading and unloading trains at the landside of container terminals," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 25(3), pages 549-575, September.
    3. Roy, Debjit & van Ommeren, Jan-Kees & de Koster, René & Gharehgozli, Amir, 2022. "Modeling landside container terminal queues: Exact analysis and approximations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 73-102.
    4. Amit Upadhyay, 2021. "Pricing Anomalies and Arbitrage in Container Transport in India," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 51(6), pages 422-434, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael F. Gorman & John-Paul Clarke & Amir Hossein Gharehgozli & Michael Hewitt & René de Koster & Debjit Roy, 2014. "State of the Practice: A Review of the Application of OR/MS in Freight Transportation," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 44(6), pages 535-554, December.
    2. Mantovani, Serena & Morganti, Gianluca & Umang, Nitish & Crainic, Teodor Gabriel & Frejinger, Emma & Larsen, Eric, 2018. "The load planning problem for double-stack intermodal trains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 107-119.
    3. Kaidabettu, Chiraag Dinesh & Lange, Ann-Kathrin & Jahn, Carlos, 2021. "Gantry crane scheduling and storage techniques in rail-road terminals," Chapters from the Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conference of Logistics (HICL), in: Jahn, Carlos & Kersten, Wolfgang & Ringle, Christian M. (ed.), Adapting to the Future: Maritime and City Logistics in the Context of Digitalization and Sustainability. Proceedings of the Hamburg International Conf, volume 32, pages 457-492, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute of Business Logistics and General Management.
    4. Upadhyay, Amit & Gu, Weihua & Bolia, Nomesh, 2017. "Optimal loading of double-stack container trains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-22.
    5. Hilde Heggen & Kris Braekers & An Caris, 2018. "A multi-objective approach for intermodal train load planning," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 40(2), pages 341-366, March.
    6. Leonard Heilig & Stefan Voß, 0. "Information systems in seaports: a categorization and overview," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    7. Raka Jovanovic & Milan Tuba & Stefan Voß, 2017. "A multi-heuristic approach for solving the pre-marshalling problem," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 25(1), pages 1-28, March.
    8. Leonard Heilig & Stefan Voß, 2017. "Information systems in seaports: a categorization and overview," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 179-201, September.
    9. Zhongbin Zhao & Xifu Wang & Suxin Cheng & Wei Liu & Lijun Jiang, 2022. "A New Synchronous Handling Technology of Double Stack Container Trains in Sea-Rail Intermodal Terminals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1, September.
    10. Lennart Zey & Dirk Briskorn & Nils Boysen, 2022. "Twin-crane scheduling during seaside workload peaks with a dedicated handshake area," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 3-34, February.
    11. Shujuan Guo & Cuijie Diao & Gang Li & Katsuhiko Takahashi, 2021. "The Two-Echelon Dual-Channel Models for the Intermodal Container Terminals of the China Railway Express Considering Container Accumulation Modes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Yan, Baicheng & Jin, Jian Gang & Zhu, Xiaoning & Lee, Der-Horng & Wang, Li & Wang, Hua, 2020. "Integrated planning of train schedule template and container transshipment operation in seaport railway terminals," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    13. Boysen, Nils & Emde, Simon, 2016. "The parallel stack loading problem to minimize blockages," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(2), pages 618-627.
    14. Oleg Duginov, 0. "Bottleneck subset-type restricted matching problems," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-10.
    15. Ruiyou Zhang & Shixin Liu & Herbert Kopfer, 2016. "Tree search procedures for the blocks relocation problem with batch moves," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 397-424, September.
    16. Zehendner, Elisabeth & Feillet, Dominique, 2014. "Benefits of a truck appointment system on the service quality of inland transport modes at a multimodal container terminal," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 461-469.
    17. Schulz, Arne & Fliedner, Malte & Fiedrich, Benedikt & Pfeiffer, Christian, 2021. "Levelling crane workload in multi-yard rail-road container terminals," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(3), pages 941-954.
    18. Iris F. A. Vis & Hector J. Carlo, 2010. "Sequencing Two Cooperating Automated Stacking Cranes in a Container Terminal," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(2), pages 169-182, May.
    19. Boysen, Nils & Schwerdfeger, Stefan & Stephan, Konrad, 2023. "A review of synchronization problems in parts-to-picker warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(3), pages 1374-1390.
    20. Nils Boysen & Malte Fliedner & Florian Jaehn & Erwin Pesch, 2013. "A Survey on Container Processing in Railway Yards," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(3), pages 312-329, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:50:y:2020:i:4:p:213-224. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.