Reinventing Crew Scheduling at Netherlands Railways

Abstract

In this paper we describe the successful application of a sophisticated Operations Research model and the corresponding solution techniques for scheduling the 6,500+ drivers and conductors of the Dutch railway operator NS Reizigers (Netherlands Railways). In 2001 the drivers and conductors were very dissatisfied with the structure of their duties, which led to nation wide strikes. However, the application of the model described in this paper led to the development of an alternative production model ('Sharing Sweet & Sour') that both satisfied the drivers and conductors, and at the same time supported an increment of the punctuality and efficiency of the railway services. The plans produced according to the alternative production model trimmed personnel costs by about $4.8million (or1.2%) per year. Moreover, it was shown that cost reductions of over $7 million per year are also achievable. conductors were very dissatisfied with the structure of their duties, which led to nation wide strikes. However, the application of the model described in this paper led to the development of an alternative production model ('Sharing Sweet&Sour') that both satisfied the drivers and conductors, and at the same time supported an increment of the punctuality and efficiency of the railway services. The plans produced according to the alternative production model trimmed personnel costs by about $4.8 million (or 1.2%) per year. Moreover, it was shown that cost reductions of over $7 million per year are also achievable.

A column generation-based heuristic for rostering with work patterns

“…The underlying optimization techniques have since penetrated into other areas of manpower planning and rostering. For example, many train companies now use optimization methods for rostering drivers and conductors (see eg Abbink et al, 2005). Other prominent areas of rostering are call centres, protection and emergency services, venue management, retail, and civic services.…”

Disruption Management in Passenger Railway Transportation

“…in Abbink et al [1], has been used for generating the annual standard day plans with great success and significant savings during the last couple of years. TURNI is based on a set covering model and dynamic column generation.…”

The New Dutch Timetable: The OR Revolution

“…An example of the sweet part of the workload is a trip on a long-distance train, while work on a regional train is considered as sour. Abbink et al (2005) provide additional details. Robustness of the crew duties, i.e., preventing propagation of delays via the crew schedule, depends on several elements, including the transfer times of the crews when transferring from one train to another.…”