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Is freight really flexible in the timetabling process for a mixed-use rail network? Some considerations based on French experience

Author

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  • Camille Morvant

    (IFSTTAR/AME/SPLOTT - Systèmes Productifs, Logistique, Organisation des Transports et Travail - IFSTTAR - Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux - Communauté Université Paris-Est)

Abstract

Several demands, such as passenger traffic, freight and maintenance works, are competing for a portion of shared and scarce resource: rail infrastructure capacity. In Western Europe, recent decades have been marked by a tendency to favour the scheduling of train paths based on a regular-interval timetable. France has recently adopted this scheduling approach. The paper focuses on the position of freight in this peculiar timetabling context and addresses the specific issue of freight flexibility, based on current French experience. The analysis is above all carried out from the infrastructure manager's perspective. It is mainly supported by the results of a series of about thirty interviews, carried out in 2012 and 2013 with the parties involved in the French timetabling process. The paper highlights that rail freight flexibility in the process has limitations and supports the thesis that anticipation is an essential issue for the infrastructure manager. Fitting freight train paths into the timetable is essentially a delicate balance of interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Camille Morvant, 2014. "Is freight really flexible in the timetabling process for a mixed-use rail network? Some considerations based on French experience," Post-Print hal-01066985, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01066985
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01066985
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    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-01066985/document
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kuo, April & Miller-Hooks, Elise & Mahmassani, Hani S., 2010. "Freight train scheduling with elastic demand," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(6), pages 1057-1070, November.
    2. Zembri, P. & Bavay, A., 2013. "Nouveaux entrants, structure du réseau ferré et qualité des infrastructures ferroviaires en France : des stratégies d’itinéraires contrariées," Recherche Transports Sécurité, Editions NecPlus, vol. 2011(04), pages 258-272, February.
    3. Cacchiani, Valentina & Caprara, Alberto & Toth, Paolo, 2010. "Scheduling extra freight trains on railway networks," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 215-231, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Morvant, Camille, 2015. "Challenges raised by freight for the operations planning of a shared-use rail network. A French perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 70-79.

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    Keywords

    TRANSPORT DE MARCHANDISE; TRANSPORT FERROVIAIRE; PLANIFICATION;
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