Decision-Making Process in the Case of Insufficient Rail Capacity

Anna Dolinayova, Vladislav Zitricky and Lenka Cerna
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Anna Dolinayova: Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Zilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
Vladislav Zitricky: Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Zilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
Lenka Cerna: Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Zilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: One of the main priorities of transport policy in the EU is to take measures to support railway transport as an environmentally friendly transport mode. An interesting challenge for a railway transport operation is represented with cost items for its operation. This problem is exacerbated if transport flows are routed through a congested railway infrastructure. If some or all transport takes place on congested rail infrastructure, the carrier’s costs increase, which may ultimately lead to withdrawal from the market. The article deals with the impact of insufficient capacity on the rail carrier’s costs. We used a pre-cost calculation methodology to calculate the rail carrier’s additional costs due to the insufficient railway network capacity based on detailed calculation of train costs and proposed a methodology for carrier decision-making in case of insufficient rail infrastructure capacity. The case study showed that the use of a diversion track in case of insufficient planned rail line capacity may not be advantageous for carriers, even with a longer waiting time for capacity to be released. One of the ways to eliminate the negative effects of congested railway infrastructure is investment in the increase of its capacity.

Keywords: rail infrastructure; insufficient capacity; shipping costs; decision-making process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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