Improvement of railway system traffic using integer linear programming. Management of dense railway systems through the development and application of optimization models

Managing railway systems poses problems with different scope. One of these problems consists in determining the number of transport units that are needed to attend a set of trips, defined by their corresponding origins and destinations and their departure and arrival times. Alternatively, it may be of interest to determine how to use a pool of transport units to meet that demand in the most efficient manner. This paper presents an Integer Linear Programming model for addressing both problems. In particular, a case study is described, corresponding to the C5 line, in the commuting railway system of the region of Madrid.