Extending the shunting plan generator of the Dutch railways with non-service train traffic

Train traffic scheduling and shunting are complex logistical problems facing numerous different constraints. The Dutch railways, NS, created software to calculate the capacity of train hubs to see where future expansion of the railroad network is needed. This work describes the addition of non-service traffic trains to the mixed-integer-programming-based Instance Generator which creates traffic instances for train unit shunting problems. It investigates the influence of train density at rail hubs and the addition of non-service traffic on the feasibility and validity of instances. This paper also analyses the maximum train density at the rail hub of Heerlen, the Netherlands.