Integer Programming Based
Approaches for the Railroad Line Scheduling and Capacity Planning Problems
by
Guvenc Sahin
University of Florida
We study a group of line and terminal planning problems for railroads. Our
research focuses on a set of complex scheduling and sequencing problems as well
as their counterparts at the strategic level. In this talk, the train
dispatching problem and its strategic counterpart known as the line-capacity
planning problem are discussed in detail. The solution methods are based on the
network representation of the problem and its integer programming formulation.
We provide an integer programming formulation that generalizes all special cases
of the problem studied earlier and handles realistic constraints that have not
been previously considered. Based on the integer programming formulation, we
develop heuristic methods that find high-quality solutions for real-life
problems. Our modeling approach is also applicable to a wide range of job
scheduling problems with ready times and due dates.