Evaluating efficiency of railway transportation based on cross‐efficiency evaluation method and relative entropy evaluation method in China.

Railway transportation system is one of the most important components of the integrated transportation system. A functional and efficient railway transportation system can be conducive to sustainable development of society and economy, thus highlighting the importance of studies on railway transportation efficiency. Therefore, this research proposes the cross‐efficiency evaluation method based on the relative entropy evaluation method (CERE) to evaluate railway transportation efficiency in China. Firstly, the research constructs an evaluation indicators system for railway transportation efficiency from the perspective of input‐output. Secondly, the paper obtains cross‐efficiency matrix by using the cross‐efficiency evaluation method (CE). Then, the study takes the obtained the cross‐efficiency matrix as the decision matrix of multiple criteria decision‐making (MCDM) problem, and applies the relative entropy evaluation method to evaluate the efficiency of railway transportation. Finally, the empirical analysis of the efficiency evaluation results for 18 railway transportation companies shows that, in 2019, Taiyuan Railway Transportation Company has the highest efficiency score, owing probably to a greater coal railway transportation demand and an advanced railway heavy haul transportation technology; railway transportation companies in the Eastern China typically have the highest efficiency scores, owing probably to a greater regional railway transportation demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]