A dynamic model for railway freight overbooking

In order to apply overbooking idea in Chinese railway freight industry to improve revenue, a Markov decision process(dynamic programming) model for railway freight reservation was formulated and the overbooking limit level was proposed as a control policy. However, computing the dynamic programming treatment needs six nested loops and this will be burdensome for real-world problems. To break through the calculation limit, the properties of value function were analyzed and the overbooking protection level was proposed to reduce the calculating quantity. The simulation experiments show that the overbooking protection level for the lower-fare class is higher than that for the higher-fare class, so the overbooking strategy is nested by fare class. Besides, by analyzing the influence on the overbooking strategy of freight arrival probability and cancellation probability, the proposed approach is efficient and also has a good application prospect in reality. Also, compared with the existing reservation(FCFS), the overbooking strategy performs better in the fields of vacancy reduction and revenue improvement.

Discussion on the Logistics Construction of Railway Container Freight Stations

From the perspective of logistics, the article discusses some essential functions and service functions of railway container freight stations. Then it plans the construction of the logistics operation system of container freight stations, and designs five main operating yards such as deconsolidation and groupage .yard, storage and distribution yard, container receiving-departure yard, container stack yard, and special cargo yard. The management pattern is discussed under the direction of modern business management theory. The ideas presented in this article is significant to the construction of railway container freight stations.

Analysis on the adjustment of transportation structure and the logistics transformation of railway freight

Purpose–This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the strategic adjustments in China’s transportation structure,with a particular focus on the pivotal role of railway freight and its integration into the modern logistics system.It seeks to address the need for a more nuanced understanding of the“road to rail”policy,emphasizing the importance of intermodal collaboration and service of fragmented market demands.Design/methodology/approach–The study employs a transport economics perspective to evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of China’s transportation structure optimization.It bases its assessment of the current state of railway freight logistics,multi-modal transportation and the broader implications for the transportation service market on data analysis.The methodology includes a review of existing policies,an examination of industry practices and a comparative analysis with global trends in railway logistics.Findings–The research underscores the importance of focusing on the development of non-bulk materials,noting the insufficiency in the development of China’s rail multi-modal transportation and highlighting the instructive value of successful cases in open-top container road-rail intermodal transportation.The study posits that the railway sector must enhance cooperation with other market entities,aligning with the lead enterprises in the logistics chain that are characterized by speed,high value and strong coordination capabilities,in order to better serve the transportation market.This approach moves away from a reliance on the railway’s own capabilities alone.Originality/value–This paper offers original insights into the transformation of railway freight in China,contributing to the body of knowledge on transportation economics and logistics.It provides valuable recommendations for policymakers and industry practitioners,emphasizing the strategic importance of railway logistics in the context of China’s economic development and intense competition in the supply chain.The value of the article lies in its comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in the adjustment of transportation structures,providing direction for the market-oriented reform of China’s railway freight sector.

Coordinated Dispatch of Integrated Electricity-Natural Gas System and the Freight Railway Network

With the significant development of liquefied natural gas(LNG)rail transport,the railway system is increasingly more closely connected with the integrated electricity-natural gas system(IEGS).To coordinate the economic operations of the two systems,this paper innovatively proposes a coordinated dispatch model of IEGS with LNG infrastructures and a freight railway network with LNG transport.First,an operational scheduling model of the railway network,considering energy consumption,is put forward for both LNG transmission and ordinary freight transport.Then,the coordinated dispatch problem of IEGS and the railway network is formulated into a mixed-integer linear programming model via the big M method and a modified incremental linearization approach.Finally,a bi-level optimization algorithm based on generalized benders decomposition(GBD)is presented to solve the coordinated dispatch problem due to the restrictions on exchanging private information.Case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm as well as the potential benefit for wind power accommodation.