Train Formation Management. Part 1

Long-term regulatory and technological documents related to train formation are often so far from the changing actual operational situation that more trains are being formed than can be provided with locomotives and sent from the station in a timely manner, sections are oversaturated with trains, stations operate with an excess of car fleet, etc. Such unpredictable situations result in unproductive delays of trains, increase the goods delivery time, reduce the use of transit, transportation, and processing capacity of railways. At the same time, reducing the time of validity of regulatory and technological documents can significantly increase the efficiency of operational management of the transportation process. The purpose of the article is to show how the operational management of train formation instead of the passive uncontrolled process of accumulation of trains at marshalling yards expands the possibilities of the train formation plan, eliminates uncertainty and creates optimal conditions for train, marshalling and freight operations. Changes in management of train formation, which are put forward on the basis of generalisation of a number of results of earlier author’s studies and publications and newly formulated proposals for discussion, will make it possible to manage the transportation process in a fundamentally new way: to form such a number of trains that will be provided in a timely manner with locomotives and «threads» of the train schedule; send such a number of trains from the train assembling stations that will not lead to oversaturation of sections with trains; to ensure the arrival of such a number of trains at marshalling yards that will allow them to work in the optimal mode; to ensure the parity of arrivals of even and odd trains at locomotive change stations; to help in a timely manner with the selection of wagons cars in case of difficulties in the work of freight stations, etc. [1].