Optimisation of Transport Capacity of a Railway Siding Through
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Open Eng. 2020; 10:245–254 Research Article Lenka Černá*, Anna Dolinayová, and Michal Petr Hranický Optimisation of Transport Capacity of a Railway Siding Through Construction-Reconstruction Measures https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2020-0012 Received Oct 30, 2019; accepted Nov 19, 2019 1 Introduction Abstract: Railway sidings in the Slovak Republic, despite The analysis of a siding operation implies that in the ter- their reduction, still do not lose their importance. In rail- ritory of the Slovak Republic there decrease performances way transport, a significant part of the realised perfor- realised on sidings as well as the number of sidings trans- mances is represented by transport on railway sidings port performances are realised on. Nowadays the reason and there is therefore a need to continuously develop and is mainly the financial demands on the construction of adapt the siding operation to the requirements of the trans- a new siding, but also high fees charged by siding oper- port market. The reason for the decrease of their number is ators to subjects, i.e. users of sidings, willing to use the nowadays mainly the financial demands on the construc- siding for transport purposes [1]. In spite of this fact in tion of the new siding and its operation. In view of this fact, big enterprises in the Slovak Republic there exist sidings there are sidings in several companies in the Slovak Repub- whose transport performances do not decrease, and the en- lic where the transport performances do not decrease and terprise considers railway transport realised on its siding the performances realised on their railway siding are con- to be dominant and economically profitable. The research sidered as dominant and economically advantageous. The of this project will be aimed at railway sidings when perfor- aim of this paper is based on the analysis of the current mances realised by railway transport are more profitable state of the siding operation in the selected company in for the enterprise. order to solve the problem with insufficient capacity of the The aim of this paper is to propose such measures siding due to the increase in the volume of processed mate- which will be in accordance with requirements put on an rials. The problem with the capacity of the analysed siding increased capacity of railway sidings for specific opera- will be solved through construction-reconstruction mea- tors, and at the same these measures will serve for the sup- sures - namely by construction of a new handling track. port of railway transport in terms of an ecologically more This option is a solution to the problem of an insufficient favourable mode of transport. The problem with capacity capacity of the siding, which affects the current transport of railway sidings there in Slovakia can be solved using sev- performances and costs of railway wagons staying at sta- eral measures, e.g.: construction of a new handling track, tions, too. The proposed measures to support the increase change of a line class on an existing handling track, pur- of a siding capacity will be economically evaluated and the chase of new mechanisms for a sufficient handling ona pay-back period of these solutions will be assessed. siding, support for siding operation, change of technology for shipments processing, or engagement of new employ- Keywords: railway siding, capacity, costs, return, recon- ees to support the siding operation. struction A quality transport infrastructure is a condition of the economy development and it belongs to basic criteria of making decisions regarding a new investment realisation. More favourable economic conditions of business making, *Corresponding Author: Lenka Černá: University of Žilina, Uni- flexibility and ability to respond to requirements of amod- verzitna 1, 010 26 Zilina, Slovak Republic; ern economy have caused that road transport has been Email: [email protected] achieving a decisive market share, and its increase leads to Anna Dolinayová: University of Žilina, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 Zilina, Slovak Republic; Email: [email protected] congestions on main road lines and a negative impact on Michal Petr Hranický: University of Žilina, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 the environment and health of the population in towns [1]. Zilina, Slovak Republic; From the point of view of making the transport green it is Email: [email protected] Open Access. © 2020 L. Černá et al., published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License 246 Ë L. Černá et al. important to introduce renewable sources of energy within paper for, some operating names will be used, mainly in transport, to develop their utilisation, and to focus on the the following cases: support and development of non-motorised and ecologi- – a manufacturing plant the optimisation solution is be- cal modes of transport. Railway transport is safe and green. ing proposed for: Plant A, Greening will be playing a bigger and bigger role in the – a railway siding as a site of measures realisation: Sid- EU. This, however, means not only the support for produc- ing A, tion of biofuels or utilisation of hybrid engines, but also – a railway station the siding runs into (a connecting the support for an overall greening of individual modes of station of Siding A): RS A, transport [2, 3]. – other: individual names of processed stocks will be operationally called as a commodity A to Z, specific products will be operationally called as a product A 2 Data and Methods to Z, and a project of Plant A (a project which aims to increase the production of specific products) will be A scientific method will be used to solve the problem men- operationally called as a project A, tioned in the introduction of the article. The methodology – a stock which affects the siding capacity after is divided into several parts and its main objective is to the project realisation: commodity C (realised mea- achieve the support for railway transport as the most eco- sures). logically favourable mode of transport, and the support to increase the transport capacity of the analysed siding. The proposed methodology is in compliance with require- 3 The Analysis of a Current State of ments of the siding operator, or user, with siding capabil- ities as well as with the applicable legislation. To accom- the Siding Operation on Siding A plish the scientific method individual steps will be applied. The first part of the methodology describes a problem The operation on Siding A represents a set of transport- being investigated which relates to actual requirements shipping activities which provide a shunting on this siding within siding operation management in the Slovak Repub- at the agreed time. The Siding A operation also includes lic and to an inevitable support for its development. In the performances related to shunting of wagons on tracks of following analytical part of the methodology the follow- the siding in accordance with the requirements and with ing is worked out: the infrastructure characteristics of the the approval of the siding operator, or user, out of the observed siding, the identification of the siding capacity scope of siding operation. problem, the analysis of performances, the analysis of op- A big advantage of Plant A is the existence of its own erations, the technical base, the analysis of operation pro- railway siding whose construction project was prepared in cesses of the siding, etc. The collected information, com- 1979. Thanks to this siding it is possible to deliver stocks plexity and depth of surveyed indicators were the basis to the enterprise also by means of railway transport. Cur- for creating a research plan which exactly identified indi- rently Plant A is planning to realise a planned project xy vidual phases, methods and procedures [4]. Based on the and as part of this project it is anticipated that the trans- performed analysis it is possible to propose some optimisa- port volume will be increased via railway transport in 24%. tion measures. In the next to the last part of the methodol- The position of the siding is of a strategic importance also ogy a specific measure to increase the transport capacity of because of its area [5]. the siding is worked out. The final part of the methodology The permission to operate a railway for Siding A is is- is complemented with a calculation of the economic prof- sued per Art. 36 Act No. 164/1996 Coll. National Council of itability of rationalisation measures in order to support the the Slovak Republic on Railways and on amendment of the siding operation, and it is also complemented with a recal- Act No. 455/1991 Coll. on Trade Licensing by National Rail culation of return of investment period. The methodology Office under the licence number 0004/1997/p. On the basis represents a sequence of steps to ensure the support for a of this permission Plant A may operate the railway (siding). smooth siding operation with an increased volume of pro- The licence to provide services of railway transport was is- cessed stocks on the observed siding, and to ensure the sued by the Transport Authority for Siding A with effect support for railway transport as a more profitable mode from October 5, 2017 sine die. of transport. To protect personal data and sensitive data of subjects who the transport capacity is optimised in this Optimisation of Transport Capacity of a Railway Siding Through Construction-Reconstruction Measures Ë 247 Figure 1: Scheme of a Rail Yard of RS A and Railway Siding A Source: [5] 3.1 The Characteristics of Plant A 3.2 The Characteristics of Siding A Plant A belongs to the biggest manufacturers in Slovakia.