An optimization strategy for improving the economic performance of heavy-haul railway networks

Optimization of wagon flow organization in heavy-haul loading areas is meaningful to develop a heavy-haul railway network and to improve transportation capacity. This paper proposes a multiobjective optimization of the wagon flow organization for heavy-haul railway (MWFHR) to improve the transportation efficiency and the economic performance of a railway network. A bi-level algorithm is constructed to solve this model, where the lower level of the algorithm collects wagon flows for organization through the ant colony optimization algorithm, and the upper level screens for the best solution set that can minimize total cost under various constraints using the traversal search algorithm. The model is numerically examined in a real case study. Comprehensive practical testing results show that the newly proposed multiobjective optimization approach is promising in establishing an efficient railway network.