Optimization of hub-and-spoke service network design for railway express freight train.

To help railway express freight transportation adapt to the requirement of logistics better, this paper investigated the hub-and spoke service network design problem for express freight train running between railway logistic terminals. By considering customer leading-time and train-type requirements and railway line capacity constraints, it formulated the problem as a mixed integer linear programming model to minimize the total costs including fixed costs, variable costs and penalty cost. it designed a genetic algorithm according to the characteristics of the model and the scale of the problem. At last, it collected a realistic example to conduct case study. Computational results show that the proposed model and algorithm can effectively describe and solve practical problem. This optimization ideas and methods of hub-and-spoke-based service network design have a certain referential significance to the organization of railway express freight transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]