Simulation Modeling of Multiple Railroad Assets

MA02.1 Modeling the Interaction Between Railroad Freight Schedule Adherence & Asset Utilization

• Yan Dong; Transport Dynamics, Carnegie Ctr., Bldg. 103, Ste. 317, Princeton, NJ 08540; ydon@transdynamics.com
• Joseph M. Sussman; MIT, Dept. of Civil & Environ. Eng., 77 Massachusetts Ave., 1-163, Cambridge, MA 02139;
• Carl D. Martland; MIT, Dept. of Civil & Environ. Eng., Cambridge, MA 02139; martlan@mitvma.mit.edu

In recent years, railroads have debated the extent to which schedule adherence affects asset utilization. A simulation model was used to examine network performance under 3 operating strategies: schedule adherence, flexible short-run scheduling and flexible operations. No strategy was best in terms of all the major measures of cost, capacity and service...

MA02.2 MultiRail's Asset Management Capabilities

• Marc S. Meketon; MultiModal Applied Systems, Inc., 125 Village Blvd., Ste. 270, Princeton, NJ 08540; marc@multimodalinc.com

MultiRail is an advanced railway operations planning and control system used by service designers. Add-ons are being developed to provide visibility into the downstream operations of the railway. This allows the service designers to understand the impact of the operating plan on the crew and capital assets...

MA02.3 Network Simulation of Railroad Assets

• Todd McClain; Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, 3017 Lou Menk Dr., Ft. Worth, TX 76102; todd.mcclain@bnsf.com

Railroads have traditionally addressed network-wide policy questions by analyzing each major asset individually. A high level simulation model of the railroad, including all major assets, reveals the interaction between the assets. The model allows better strategic planning and quantification of network decision policies.