Background:
In an ideal scenario for bulk
railways, crew rosters should be regular and equitable. In reality,
however, train timetables are highly variable and generally not
know when crew rosters are constructed. Moreover, crew requirements
can frequently change in response to unexpected delays and events.
Hence, there is a need for an efficient strategy for rostering
crews in bulk railways.
Objective:
The main objectives of the
project are to develop policies for constructing effective and
equitable crew rosters in an environment where train plans are
highly variable and not known in advance, and to develop practical
strategies for assigning crews to tasks.
Project
scope:
The research project will:
- Identify the best way to allocate crew to driving tasks
as they occur, given the set of crew that is currently signed on;
and
- Identify the pattern of crew sign-ons which will lead to
more effective allocation of crew to driving tasks.
Benefits
The benefits of this project to the rail industry
include:
- Reducing train delays caused by unavailability of
suitable crew;
- Providing efficient methods of recovery from unplanned
events;
- Increasing effective crew utilisation; and
- Increasing overall reliability and efficiency of the
supply chain.
Expected
outcomes:
The project will produce a
collection of crew allocation and rostering policies as well as
algorithms that may be used within any bulk railway operations.
Prototype software to trial these procedures will also be
developed.
Project
timeframe:
12 Months
Project
Chair:
TBA, Rio Tinto
Project
Leader:
Amie Albrecht, Research
Associate, University of South Australia
Tel:
(08) 830 23754
Email: Amie.Albrecht@unisa.edu.au
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