AMORE: Algorithmic methods for optimizing the railways in europe

• Forschungsstelle: EU FRP
• Projektnummer: 99.0267
• Projekttitel Englisch: AMORE: Algorithmic methods for optimizing the railways in europe

Schlüsselwörter (Englisch)

Algorithmus; Umlaufplanung; Komplexität; Approximation;
Education; Training; Scientific Research; Social Aspects

Alternative Projektnummern (Englisch)

EU project number: HPRN-1999-00104

Forschungsprogramme (Englisch)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.3.3 Land transport and marine technologies

Kurzbeschreibung (Englisch)

See abstract

Weitere Hinweise und Angaben (Englisch)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise:
ETH Zürich
Institut für Theoretische Informatik
CAB H 15

Partner und Internationale Organisationen (Englisch)

Universität Konstanz (D), Techn. University of Lyngby (DK), University of Patras (EL), Università di Roma (I), University of Amsterdam (NL)

Abstract (Englisch)

While Europe is growing together, mobility is increasing in a way that calls for systematic traffic planning in a broad context. The European railways are requested to play a central role in this development. Future development and improvement of European railways will have an impact on people's lives and therefore on society in general. The problems arising in this context are highly complex. Not only new technological solutions are requested but even more new models supporting the understanding of the structure behind these problems. In all areas of today's traffic engineering, mathematical methods and sophisticated algorithms are of increasing importance. In an intensive dialogue between railways companies, traffic engineers, and computer scientists, clear formal models are to be developed. Here are many interesting and challenging algorithmic problems waiting to be studied. Techniques from combinatorial optimisation and efficient algorithms must be provided. Transposing these into applicable methods is again a task to be undertaken. Due to the diversity of the theme, the research network will focus on an intensive knowledge exchange and the common consideration of the national railway systems aiming for the development of a European view.

The main objectives of the research training network are:
- knowledge exchange about problems and methods applied so far in different national railway companies;
- adaptation of techniques and methods already developed to the requirements and conditions of different national railway systems;
- to study new problems arising from the integration of national railway system in a European context;
- to improve the co-operation among research groups from different fields and of different expertise.

Research topics include the formulation, analysis and validation of domain models of the railway and transfer of such models to concrete algorithmic problems, such as the design and optimisation of railway timetable information systems, methods to support the planning and evaluation of the building and extension of railway systems, modelling and handling of new price structures, network controlling. The goal is to provide improved and new algorithms for the solution of such problems as well as prototype implementations.

Datenbankreferenzen (Englisch)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 99.0267