Optimization of Multi-Period Rail Procurement Plan
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2022
Subject Area
land use - planning, mode - rail, mode - subway/metro, organisation - management, place - asia, planning - methods
Keywords
rail, railroad infrastructure design and maintenance, resilience and sustainability, track
Abstract
Rail is one of the most expensive assets in railway infrastructure. Therefore, a well-prepared rail procurement plan could benefit the asset management. For the metro system in Taiwan, the rail procurement plan includes two major uncertainties, namely, currency rates and the global steel price. In this study, we propose deterministic and stochastic optimization models using a scenario-generation process to minimize the expected cost of the rail procurement plan. Results from the case studies demonstrate that the proposed models can successfully incorporate the uncertainties and obtain the optimal procurement plan. The sensitivity analysis on budget, storage capacity, and expiration period also provides the metro operator the best strategy to further lower the procurement cost. Adopting these models in rail procurement planning can improve the process and results of rail asset management.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by SAGE, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Shih, H., Yeh, C., & Lai, Y. (2022). Optimization of Multi-Period Rail Procurement Plan. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Vol. 2676(4), pp. 324-333.
