Scheduling Freight Trains on Complex Trackage Near Port Facilities and Urban Centers

METRANS Seminar Presented by Maged M. Dessouky, ProfessorDaniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern CaliforniaWednesday, October 18, 2006, 12:00pm - 1:30pm, Lewis Hall (RGL) Room 215** Bring a bag lunch. Refreshments will be served. **ABSTRACT: As global trade continues to increase, cargo traffic at the nation's ports continues to increase at dramatic levels. This growth in the number of containers has already introduced congestion and threatened the accessibility and capacity of the rail network system supporting port
facilities. As a result, various US rail lines have experienced severe
congestion.Trains operating in densely populated metropolitan areas that are near port facilities typically encounter complex trackage configurations. To make optimal use of the available rail capacity, some portions of the rail network may consist of single-track lines while other locations may consist of double- or triple-track lines. Because of varying local conditions, different points in the rail network may have different speed limits. We formulate a graphical technique for modeling such complex rail networks; and we use this technique to develop a deadlock-free algorithm for dispatching each train to its destination with nearly minimal travel time while (a) abiding by the speed limits at each point on each trains route; and (b) maintaining adequate headways between trains. We implemented this train-dispatching algorithm in a simulation model of the movements of passenger and freight trains in Los Angeles County, and we validated the simulation as yielding an adequate approxim ation to the current system performance.Biography:Maged M. Dessouky, Ph.D., is Professor in the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California. Dr. Dessouky's research interests are in logistics, transportation, scheduling, simulation, and applied operations research.
He has been a principal investigator or co-principal investigator of over 30 funded research projects supported by a number of sources including the National Science Foundation, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, CalTrans, Federal Transportation Authority, Los Angeles County and Department of Defense, among others. This research has lead to over 40 refereed journal articles. He also serves an Area Editor of several industrial engineering journals.For more information, please contact Hossein Ataei (ataei@usc.edu).

Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - 215

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum