Assessing the Impact of Maintenance Constraints for the Rolling Stock Problem in Freight Operations

Europe aims to nearly double the rail freight traffic to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. One of the challenges that multimodal freight transport will face is optimizing the high costs and train delays associated with the management of rolling stock. In this context, we study the Wagon Assignment Policy problem, namely the integration of maintenance constraints with the Rolling Stock Problem, which focuses on the criteria to efficiently manage the wagon fleet while performing shunting operations due to demand matching and maintenance activities. This paper aims to both assess the maintenance constraint’s long-term impact on multiple rail system KPIs and develop Wagon Assignment Policies useful to practitioners in taking into account the interconnection between shunting operations and maintenance activities. Results show how maintenance constraints significantly decrease the solution quality and how the criteria for choosing which wagons to assign to a departing train affect wagon fleet size requirements, shunting operations to be performed and train delays.