APPLICATION OF THE MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS FOR THE RAILWAY ROUTE EVALUATION AND SELECTION

After a detailed analysis of each railroad route alternative, the problem of route evaluation in the process of planning and designing is reduced to making a decision concerning its optimal selection. In this article the authors emphasize the significance of the reconstruction of the railroad route connection for the development of the North Adriatic Ports, Rijeka, Koper and Trieste. The most important project related to North Adriatic Port's railway transport system is the construction of a new high-efficiency railroad which will connect the ports of Rijeka, Koper and Trieste. The construction of a new high-efficiency railway will create a significant shortening of railroad links of South East Europe with its central and western parts and will improve the conditions of traffic exploitation of the North Adriatic transport route. The objective of this paper is to show that the application of the multi-criteria analysis can lead to conclusions regarding the evaluation and selection of the appropriate railroad transport route. In order to fulfill the research objective, a model comprising criteria and sub-criteria for railroad route evaluation is defined. The proposed model was used for the evaluation of the railway route Rijeka-Koper-Trieste by applying the PROMETHEE II method for multi-criteria ranking of alternatives.