The demand for rail transportation in North America is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. Additional capacity will be required to accommodate the new traffic demand for both passenger and freight services. The majority of the network is single track with passing sidings, which trains use for meets and passes; therefore, allocating sidings properly can significantly increase line capacity and reduce train delay. Railroads usually rely on experienced personnel to determine new siding locations to improve line capacity through infrastructure upgrades. Experienced railroaders often identify good solutions; however, this method does not guarantee that all good alternatives have been evaluated or that the best one is implemented. In this research, an optimal siding location model is developed with consideration of infrastructure and traffic characteristics to determine the optimal number and locations of sidings. The empirical results demonstrate that this model is able to generate an optimal plan for the number of additional sidings and their respective locations. This tool can therefore help railroads maximize their return on investment from capacity expansion projects and achieve the service quality desired by customers.


    Access

    Download

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Optimization of Siding Location for Single-Track Lines


    Additional title:

    Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2014-01-01




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



    Simplified siding-track formulae

    Preston, A. | Engineering Index Backfile | 1944


    AN ANALYSIS OF RAILROAD SKIP STOP SYSTEM WITHOUT SIDING TRACK

    Suh, W. / Chon, K. S. / Rhee, S. M. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2003


    Seal with siding channel

    CACKLEY JASON / BOGUCKI LEON / SATO MAKOTO et al. | European Patent Office | 2025

    Free access

    Seal with siding channel

    MALONEY MARC E / YOUNG RAYMOND / SATO MAKATO et al. | European Patent Office | 2019

    Free access

    JRC2014-3831 Siding Spacing and the Incremental Capacity of the Transition From Single to Double Track

    Atanassov, I. / Dick, C.T. / Barkan, C.P.L. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2014