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A Simulation Study on the Potential of Moving Urban Freight by a Cross-City Railway Line

Author

Listed:
  • Praful Potti

    (Engineering and Applied Sciences Department, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK)

  • Marin Marinov

    (Engineering and Applied Sciences Department, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK)

  • Edward Sweeney

    (Engineering and Applied Sciences Department, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK)

Abstract

This paper analyses the scope for moving urban freight through rail by evaluating the utilisation levels of the Cross-City railway line in The United Kingdom (UK), running between Lichfield Trent Valley and Birmingham New Street. A simulation model of the railway system was built and implemented using SIMUL8 computer software. The results from the simulation model suggest that the railway line is being under-utilised. These low utilisation levels of the line presented a case to propose three scenarios that has the potential to carry urban freight by rail through Lichfield Trent Valley to Birmingham New Street Station. The total number of services operated on the line is varied between different scenarios. The proposed three scenarios could not only exploit the existing railway infrastructure by improving the utilisation levels of the currently operating railway line, but also proved to reduce an amount of green-house gases (GHGs) emissions that are caused by heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) moving on the road. After simulating all the proposed scenarios in the SIMUL8 simulation software and analysing the results, scenario number 3 seemed to be the best replacement to the actual system as it presents a case to increase the number of train services running per day by in the line by 108 and causing a drastic improvement in the utilisation levels by an increase of 341.71% to that of the actual system. This proposed system has the potential to eliminate 5400 HGVs moving on the road per day that causes a reduction of CO 2 gas by approximately 5.4%. All the scenarios presented in the study assures a sustainable method to move the urban freight by rail that has the potential to reduce congestion and emissions in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom (UK).

Suggested Citation

  • Praful Potti & Marin Marinov & Edward Sweeney, 2019. "A Simulation Study on the Potential of Moving Urban Freight by a Cross-City Railway Line," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:6088-:d:282686
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meiling He & Jiaren Shen & Xiaohui Wu & Jianqiang Luo, 2018. "Logistics Space: A Literature Review from the Sustainability Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    2. Ozturk, Onur & Patrick, Jonathan, 2018. "An optimization model for freight transport using urban rail transit," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(3), pages 1110-1121.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jianhua Zhang & Ziqi Wang & Shuliang Wang & Shengyang Luan & Wenchao Shao, 2020. "Vulnerability Assessments of Urban Rail Transit Networks Based on Redundant Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Anna Dolinayova & Vladislav Zitricky & Lenka Cerna, 2020. "Decision-Making Process in the Case of Insufficient Rail Capacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    3. Francisco Gildemir Ferreira da Silva & Renata Lúcia Magalhães de Oliveira & Marin Marinov, 2020. "An Analysis of the Effects on Rail Operational Efficiency Due to a Merger between Brazilian Rail Companies: The Case of RUMO-ALL," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-23, June.
    4. Abigail Luxton & Marin Marinov, 2020. "Terrorist Threat Mitigation Strategies for the Railways," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Magdalena Mucowska, 2021. "Trends of Environmentally Sustainable Solutions of Urban Last-Mile Deliveries on the E-Commerce Market—A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, May.

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