An object-oriented, constraint-based heuristic for a class of passenger-train scheduling problems

A constraint-based heuristic technique for predictive scheduling of passenger trains is presented in this paper. The algorithm, which is lookahead, has been designed using an object-oriented methodology and is suitable for a single-track railway with some double-track sections. It is shown that the heuristic tends to minimize total waiting time of the trains concerned. Simulation experiments with real data show the superiority of the schedules created to those by human experts with reference to data provided from predictive timetables and specifications of Iran Railways