TY - JOUR
T1 - Introducing the concept of grades of automation for shunting operations
AU - Reichmann, Matthias
AU - Himmelbauer, Gabriel Stephan
AU - Wagner, Adrian
AU - Zajicek, Jürgen
AU - Stadlmann, Burkhard
AU - Wancura, Herbert
AU - Furian, Nikolaus
AU - Vössner, Siegfried
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - In Europe political decisions have been made to shift freight traffic from roads to railways, triggering substantial efforts to digitize and automate processes in the rail freight domain. As currently, only automation taxonomies for driving in rail networks exist, this paper provides a taxonomy for operations in so-called marshaling yards. Marshaling yards are critical nodes in the rail freight network, where the wagons of arriving trains are separated and are distributed to outgoing trains. Using the Design Science Research Cycles of Hevner to ensure a transparent procedure, this work develops Grades of Automation for Shunting Operations. The key outcome is a systematic classification together with a pictorial representation of these Grades of Automation, providing an overview of basic Shunting Operations and their functional realizations. This taxonomy facilitates a comparison of automation levels across different marshaling yards, aiding rail freight undertakings in planning efficient transport routes within the rail freight network.
AB - In Europe political decisions have been made to shift freight traffic from roads to railways, triggering substantial efforts to digitize and automate processes in the rail freight domain. As currently, only automation taxonomies for driving in rail networks exist, this paper provides a taxonomy for operations in so-called marshaling yards. Marshaling yards are critical nodes in the rail freight network, where the wagons of arriving trains are separated and are distributed to outgoing trains. Using the Design Science Research Cycles of Hevner to ensure a transparent procedure, this work develops Grades of Automation for Shunting Operations. The key outcome is a systematic classification together with a pictorial representation of these Grades of Automation, providing an overview of basic Shunting Operations and their functional realizations. This taxonomy facilitates a comparison of automation levels across different marshaling yards, aiding rail freight undertakings in planning efficient transport routes within the rail freight network.
KW - Automation taxonomies
KW - Grades of automation
KW - Marshaling yards
KW - Rail freight
KW - Shunting operations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85212567820&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrtpm.2024.100500
DO - 10.1016/j.jrtpm.2024.100500
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85212567820
SN - 2210-9706
VL - 33
JO - Journal of Rail Transport Planning and Management
JF - Journal of Rail Transport Planning and Management
M1 - 100500
ER -