WP6 - Optimisation of operations

WP6 developed models and methods to optimise the operation considering operational constraints, such as rolling stock restrictions, turnaround time and staff restrictions. This en­sured that the optimisation of schedules in WP5 was feasible from an operational point of view, as well as given the planning constraints from WP2 and through the participation of DSB and Movia in the project. Integrated vehicle and crew scheduling for bus transportation was al­ready an established research field (Huisman et al., 2005). For rail transportation, existing research focused either on rolling stock circulation (Peeters and Kroon, 2008) or on crew planning (Caprara et al., 2007) separately while little research had been carried out towards inte­grating the two optimisation problems. 

The research focus of WP6 was to 

1. develop new models for integrated vehicle and crew planning for both bus and railway operations (taking into account constraints faced by local operators to make plans realistic), 
2. develop fast algorithms (metaheuristics) for solving the models and 
3. integrate models and algorithms with those developed in WP5 to form a single optimisation tool-box. 

WP5 and WP6 ran in parallel and in close interaction to ensure that the overall optimisation of schedules was acceptable from a rolling stock and crew point of view.

Stefan Røpke, Professor Department of Technology, Managment and Economics Akademivej, Building 358 2800 Kgs. Lyngby Denmark Phone: +45 4525 4554 Email: ropke@dtu.dk