Simulation modeling at Union Pacific Railroad

Author

Dalal, Malay A. ; Jensen, Lawrence P.

Author_Institution

Decision Technol. Group, Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, NE, USA

Volume

2

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

1048

Abstract

Despite the potential, the use of simulation technology at US railroads appears to be lagging behind that in manufacturing and other transportation industries. This paper describes three recent experiences of applying simulation at Union Pacific Railroad: validation of yard-queuing data used in a railroad operations planning and control system, evaluation of work-rest patterns for scheduling train crews, and evaluation of strategic transportation plan. Collectively they demonstrate the wide spectrum of possible applications in terms of domain, development effort, planning horizon, etc. We conclude with thoughts on how to promote the use of simulation in the railroad environment

Keywords

digital simulation; rail traffic; railways; transportation; US railroads; Union Pacific Railroad; railroad operations planning and control; scheduling train crews; simulation technology; strategic transportation plan; work-rest patterns; yard-queuing data; Capacity planning; Control system synthesis; Design automation; Electrical equipment industry; Job shop scheduling; Predictive models; Rail transportation; Strategic planning; Testing; Virtual manufacturing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Simulation Conference, 2001. Proceedings of the Winter

Conference_Location

Arlington, VA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7307-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/WSC.2001.977413

Filename

977413