@misc{BorndoerferBreuerGrimmetal.2017, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Breuer, Matthias and Grimm, Boris and Reuther, Markus and Schade, Stanley and Schlechte, Thomas}, title = {Timetable Sparsification by Rolling Stock Rotation Optimization}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-65948}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Rolling stock optimization is a task that naturally arises by operating a railway system. It could be seen with different level of details. From a strategic perspective to have a rough plan which types of fleets to be bought to a more operational perspective to decide which coaches have to be maintained first. This paper presents a new approach to deal with rolling stock optimisation in case of a (long term) strike. Instead of constructing a completely new timetable for the strike period, we propose a mixed integer programming model that is able to choose appropriate trips from a given timetable to construct efficient tours of railway vehicles covering an optimized subset of trips, in terms of deadhead kilometers and importance of the trips. The decision which trip is preferred over the other is made by a simple evaluation method that is deduced from the network and trip defining data.}, language = {en} } @misc{SchadeBorndoerferBreueretal.2017, author = {Schade, Stanley and Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Breuer, Matthias and Grimm, Boris and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Siebeneicher, Patrick}, title = {Pattern Detection For Large-Scale Railway Timetables}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-63390}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We consider railway timetables of our industrial partner DB Fernverkehr AG that operates the ICE high speed trains in the long-distance passenger railway network of Germany. Such a timetable covers a whole year with 364 days and, typically, includes more than 45,000 trips. A rolling stock rotation plan is not created for the whole timetable at once. Instead the timetable is divided into regular invariant sections and irregular deviations (e.g. for public holidays). A separate rotation plan with a weekly period can then be provided for each of the different sections of the timetable. We present an algorithmic approach to automatically recognize these sections. Together with the supplementing visualisation of the timetable this method has shown to be very relevant for our industrial partner.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferLamorgeseKlugetal.2015, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Lamorgese, Leonardo and Klug, Torsten and Mannino, Carlo and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas}, title = {Recent Success Stories on Optimization of Railway Systems}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the IAROR conference RailTokyo}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Planning and operating railway transportation systems is an extremely hard task due to the combinatorial complexity of the underlying discrete optimization problems, the technical intricacies, and the immense size of the problem instances. Because of that, however, mathematical models and optimization techniques can result in large gains for both railway cus- tomers and operators, e.g., in terms of cost reductions or service quality improvements. In the last years a large and growing group of researchers in the OR community have devoted their attention to this domain devel- oping mathematical models and optimization approaches to tackle many of the relevant problems in the railway planning process. However, there is still a gap to bridge between theory and practice, with a few notable exceptions. In this paper we address three success stories, namely, long-term freight train routing (part I), mid-term rolling stock rotation planning (part II), and real-time train dispatching (part III). In each case, we describe real-life, successful implementations. We will dis- cuss the individual problem setting, survey the optimization literature, and focus on particular aspects addressed by the mathematical models. We demonstrate on concrete applications how mathematical optimization can support railway planning and operations. This gives proof that math- ematical optimization can support the planning of rolling stock resources. Thus, mathematical models and optimization can lead to a greater effi- ciency of railway operations and will serve as a powerful and innovative tool to meet recent challenges of the railway industry.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferReutherSchlechte2014, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas}, title = {A Coarse-To-Fine Approach to the Railway Rolling Stock Rotation Problem}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-51009}, year = {2014}, abstract = {We propose a new coarse-to-fine approach to solve certain linear programs by column generation. The problems that we address contain layers corresponding to different levels of detail, i.e., coarse layers as well as fine layers. These layers are utilized to design efficient pricing rules. In a nutshell, the method shifts the pricing of a fine linear program to a coarse counterpart. In this way, major decisions are taken in the coarse layer, while minor details are tackled within the fine layer. We elucidate our methodology by an application to a complex railway rolling stock rotation problem. We provide comprehensive computational results that demonstrate the benefit of this new technique for the solution of large scale problems.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferKarbsteinMehrgardtetal.2014, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Karbstein, Marika and Mehrgardt, Julika and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas}, title = {The Cycle Embedding Problem}, issn = {1438-0064}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-28697-6_65}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-52788}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Given two hypergraphs, representing a fine and a coarse "layer", and a cycle cover of the nodes of the coarse layer, the cycle embedding problem (CEP) asks for an embedding of the coarse cycles into the fine layer. The CEP is NP-hard for general hypergraphs, but it can be solved in polynomial time for graphs. We propose an integer rogramming formulation for the CEP that provides a complete escription of the CEP polytope for the graphical case. The CEP comes up in railway vehicle rotation scheduling. We present computational results for problem instances of DB Fernverkehr AG that justify a sequential coarse-first-fine-second planning approach.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{Reuther2014, author = {Reuther, Markus}, title = {Local Search for the Resource Constrained Assignment Problem}, volume = {42}, booktitle = {14th Workshop on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems}, doi = {10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2014.62}, pages = {62 -- 78}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The resource constrained assignment problem (RCAP) is to find a minimal cost cycle partition in a directed graph such that a resource constraint is fulfilled. The RCAP has its roots in an application that deals with the covering of a railway timetable by rolling stock vehicles. Here, the resource constraint corresponds to maintenance constraints for rail vehicles. Moreover, the RCAP generalizes several variants of vehicle routing problems. We contribute a local search algorithm for this problem that is derived from an exact algorithm which is similar to the Hungarian method for the standard assignment problem. Our algorithm can be summarized as a k-OPT heuristic, exchanging k arcs of an alternating cycle of the incumbent solution in each improvement step. The alternating cycles are found by dual arguments from linear programming. We present computational results for instances from our railway application at Deutsche Bahn Fernverkehr AG as well as for instances of the vehicle routing problem from the literature.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferMehrgardtReutheretal.2014, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Mehrgardt, Julika and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Waas, Kerstin}, title = {Re-Optimization of Rolling Stock Rotations}, edition = {Operations Research Proceedings 2013}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-07001-8_8}, pages = {49 -- 55}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The Rolling Stock Rotation Problem is to schedule rail vehicles in order to cover timetabled trips by a cost optimal set of vehicle rotations. The problem integrates several facets of railway optimization, such as vehicle composition, maintenance constraints, and regularity aspects. In industrial applications existing vehicle rotations often have to be re-optimized to deal with timetable changes or construction sites. We present an integrated modeling and algorithmic approach to this task as well as computational results for industrial problem instances of DB Fernverkehr AG.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SchadeBorndoerferBreueretal.2017, author = {Schade, Stanley and Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Breuer, Matthias and Grimm, Boris and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Siebeneicher, Patrick}, title = {Pattern Detection For Large-Scale Railway Timetables}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the IAROR conference RailLille}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We consider railway timetables of our industrial partner DB Fernverkehr AG that operates the ICE high speed trains in the long-distance passenger railway network of Germany. Such a timetable covers a whole year with 364 days and, typically, includes more than 45,000 trips. A rolling stock rotation plan is not created for the whole timetable at once. Instead the timetable is divided into regular invariant sections and irregular deviations (e.g. for public holidays). A separate rotation plan with a weekly period can then be provided for each of the different sections of the timetable. We present an algorithmic approach to automatically recognize these sections. Together with the supplementing visualisation of the timetable this method has shown to be very relevant for our industrial partner.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferReutherSchlechteetal.2015, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Schulz, Christof and Swarat, Elmar and Weider, Steffen}, title = {Duty Rostering in Public Transport - Facing Preferences, Fairness, and Fatigue}, booktitle = {Proceedings of Conference on Advanced Systems in Public Transport 2015 (CASPT2015)}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Duty rostering problems occur in different application contexts and come in different flavors. They give rise to very large scale integer programs which ypically have lots of solutions and extremely fractional LP relaxations. In such a situation, heuristics can be a viable algorithmic choice. We propose an mprovement method of the Lin-Kernighan type for the solution of duty rostering problems. We illustrate its versatility and solution quality on three different applications in public transit, vehicle routing, and airline rostering with a focus on the management of preferences, fairness, and fatigue, respectively.}, language = {en} } @article{BorndoerferReutherSchlechteetal.2016, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Waas, Kerstin and Weider, Steffen}, title = {Integrated Optimization of Rolling Stock Rotations for Intercity Railways}, volume = {50}, journal = {Transportation Science}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1287/trsc.2015.0633}, pages = {863 -- 877}, year = {2016}, abstract = {This paper proposes a highly integrated solution approach for rolling stock planning problems in the context of long distance passenger traffic between cities. The main contributions are a generic hypergraph-based mixed-integer programming model for the considered rolling stock rotation problem and an integrated algorithm for its solution. The newly developed algorithm is able to handle a large spectrum of industrial railway requirements, such as vehicle composition, maintenance constraints, infrastructure capacities, and regularity aspects. We show that our approach has the power to produce rolling stock rotations that can be implemented in practice. In this way, the rolling stock rotations at the largest German long distance operator Deutsche Bahn Fernverkehr AG could be optimized by an automated system utilizing advanced mathematical programming techniques.}, language = {en} } @article{BorndoerferGrimmReutheretal.2017, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Grimm, Boris and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas}, title = {Template-based Re-optimization of Rolling Stock Rotations}, journal = {Public Transport}, publisher = {Springer}, doi = {10.1007/s12469-017-0152-4}, pages = {1 -- 19}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Rolling stock, i.e., the set of railway vehicles, is among the most expensive and limited assets of a railway company and must be used efficiently. We consider in this paper the re-optimization problem to recover from unforeseen disruptions. We propose a template concept that allows to recover cost minimal rolling stock rotations from reference rotations under a large variety of operational requirements. To this end, connection templates as well as rotation templates are introduced and their application within a rolling stock rotation planning model is discussed. We present an implementation within the rolling stock rotation optimization framework rotor and computational results for scenarios provided by DB Fernverkehr AG, one of the leading railway operators in Europe.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{BorndoerferReutherSchlechte2014, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas}, title = {A Coarse-To-Fine Approach to the Railway Rolling Stock Rotation Problem}, volume = {42}, booktitle = {14th Workshop on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems}, doi = {10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2014.79}, pages = {79 -- 91}, year = {2014}, abstract = {We propose a new coarse-to-fine approach to solve certain linear programs by column generation. The problems that we address contain layers corresponding to different levels of detail, i.e., coarse layers as well as fine layers. These layers are utilized to design efficient pricing rules. In a nutshell, the method shifts the pricing of a fine linear program to a coarse counterpart. In this way, major decisions are taken in the coarse layer, while minor details are tackled within the fine layer. We elucidate our methodology by an application to a complex railway rolling stock rotation problem. We provide comprehensive computational results that demonstrate the benefit of this new technique for the solution of large scale problems.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferLoebelReutheretal.2012, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and L{\"o}bel, Andreas and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Weider, Steffen}, title = {Rapid Branching}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14728}, number = {12-10}, year = {2012}, abstract = {We propose rapid branching (RB) as a general branch-and-bound heuristic for solving large scale optimization problems in traffic and transport. The key idea is to combine a special branching rule and a greedy node selection strategy in order to produce solutions of controlled quality rapidly and efficiently. We report on three successful applications of the method for integrated vehicle and crew scheduling, railway track allocation, and railway vehicle rotation planning.}, language = {en} } @misc{BorndoerferReutherSchlechteetal.2012, author = {Bornd{\"o}rfer, Ralf and Reuther, Markus and Schlechte, Thomas and Weider, Steffen}, title = {Vehicle Rotation Planning for Intercity Railways}, issn = {1438-0064}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-14731}, number = {12-11}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This paper provides a generic formulation for rolling stock planning problems in the context of intercity passenger traffic. The main contributions are a graph theoretical model and a Mixed-Integer-Programming formulation that integrate all main requirements of the considered Vehicle-Rotation-Planning problem (VRPP). We show that it is possible to solve this model for real-world instances provided by our industrial partner DB Fernverkehr AG using modern algorithms and computers.}, language = {en} }