Selection of Rail Station Locations on an Intercity Route Regarding Maximum Users’ Economic Profits

Abstract

Cities located on a path of intercity railroads tend to be in a corridor system to increase commerce and economic profits. Theoretic and practical work concerning train station locations can be used to provide factors that affect the choice of train station sites. In this paper, we find optimal places to locate train stations according to location theories and particular natural and socioeconomic characteristics. The methods we used are focused on maximising users’ economic profits associated with passenger and cargo transportation by finding optimal stations on the route. Furthermore, we created a general algebraic modelling system (GAMS) with linear planning, which is solvable using a C programming language (CPLEX) interactive optimiser. Case studies on 14 stations along the 820 km long Milak-Chabahar corridor helped us to simulate our model and test its feasibility at three alternative times to prove the outcomes. The stations would increase an average profit of 38.6%, 42.94% and 50.85%, but the growth varied in the stations. This research contributes to freight and passenger transportation engineers in railroad design. They benefit from the model to determine the location of a train station to obtain maximum user profits in that station and its surrounding areas.