Currently, as the process of planning a rail freight transport service involves the use of computers, operators can benefit from sufficient data in order to improve national and international traffic. In order to have an efficient traffic flow, computerized dispatch is the best solution to optimize techniques and increase computer capacity.
Rail transport development and its capacity to efficiently compete with other modes of transport continue to face major issues related to financing and inadequate infrastructure costs, competition barriers and the lack of a proper regulatory monitoring.
Despite the fact that the selected traffic planning procedures are tangent or even intersect, freight traffic planning is completely different as opposed to passenger traffic planning.
Freight trains run on demand, rather than based on a pre-established timetable. Even if they share the same network, freight and passenger trains alike have to comply with the requirements imposed by the respective network. Aside from a relatively small number of freight trains which connect directly the departure point and the destination, they are generally divided and rail cars have to be regrouped at the nearest switch-yard in order to reach their final destination.
Infrastructure managers need high-performance systems in order to organise the routes and timetables. The current requirements for international traffic in Europe impose the optimization of the resource dispatch system, both for vehicles and staff.
“It is of the utmost importance to optimize freight train capacity. In this process, the dispatch systems are very important for rail transport”, said experts of DB Schenker Rail.
The dispatch system represents a necessary tool in order to prepare and execute an operation in an efficient manner. All the resources, from rolling stock to engine drivers, have to be stable and efficient. Therefore, not only manual procedures have to be used, but also optimization methods in order to create regulations.
“While preparing an operation and running the rolling stock, the capacity restrictions of railway stations and depots should take into consideration the imposed limitations and the necessary maintenance following a period of operation. This refers to a service plan for the basic maintenance, based on the capacity of the service facilities. Aside from the planning system, the dispatch system takes into account the actual status of the operations and is able to react and re-organise the situation if needed”, believe experts from rail industry market.
The possibility of using optimum resource planning methods to develop various scenarios and adopt the best solutions is essential for an efficient traffic flow, especially when referring to freight traffic.
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