Simulation and optimization of rail freight yards
Résumé
Managing a rail freight yard is a very complicated task that is currently performedmostly manually by yard operators. The OptiYard European project aimed to the optimization ofyard management and to the production of a closed-loop optimization and simulation frameworkto show its applicability in reality. Trains are managed from their arrival at the yard up to theirdeparture. All resources are modelled in detail: tracks, shunting locomotives and crews. Movementsare modelled microscopically. In the closed-loop framework, the simulator plays the role of a realyard and constantly communicates with the optimization module in charge of making decisions.These decisions concern all resource assignments and all wagon treatments necessary to effectivelycarry on yard operations.