An integrated model for train rescheduling and station track assignment

Both train rescheduling and station track assignment have become hot topics in recent years. It is fundamentally important to do the rescheduling and track assignment work at the same time to avoid the feasibility risk of the re‐scheduled timetable. The purpose of this paper is to design an integrated model for train rescheduling and track assignment in order to provide an integrative plan for the trains to run on the railway sections and go through stations. Based on the existing train rescheduling model, the model is designed by adding the constraints and the optimization goal of track assignment. The goal of track assignment is to maximize the equilibrium of the track usage time, and the constraint is that two trains cannot occupy a same track at the same time. An artificial bee colony algorithm is used to solve the model to get the operation plan. A computing experiment was carried out to prove the effectiveness of the model and the efficiency of the algorithm. The approach presented in this paper can provide a reference for the developers of a railway dispatching system.