Abstract
Marshalling yards serve as switching and transshipment points in rail networks. The selection of optimal marshalling yard location influences not only total costs and delays but also economies of scale due to the consolidation of flows. The purpose of this paper is to develop an optimal marshalling yard location model considering economies of scale due to the consolidation of flows. This model also includes several cost components and capacity constraints related to rail networks. Test results are presented for rail freight transportation problems with 25 origins/destinations. Also they are compared with recently published studies. The proposed model can be used in the several decisions on the improvement of the efficiency in rail networks.
