The Issue Of Capacity And Its Lack In The Transport Circles

The capacity, or lack of it, is a very important issue in the Transport Circles these days. The railroads have suffered a huge increase in both rail miles and tons-miles in recent years. But now many of the main rail lines are near or have already exceeded their capacity. The railways try to solve it by adding capacity and eliminating some of the traffic elements to make space for larger volumes. The capacity of the railroad is a national problem, although It would be of less importance if the alternative modes could deal with such growth. However, many public officials use railroads as a safety valve for a rising tide of merchandise traffic.

Also, as an added point, if the railways are able to obtain sufficient capacity to handle growth, there would be some pressure that will be removed from the road network. Capacity is a function of a multitude of factors, all interrelated. Normally we think of capacity as a problem of only infrastructure, rolling stock, motive power, employees and operational strategies (train size, train speed, train schedules, etc. ) when they are all part of the same equation. In a business of networks which is as complex as rail, all these factors are very important. Trains with low power can have terrible results in terms of track capacity. Similarly, if the trains operate at different speeds. Capacity controllers, infrastructure, motivating power, equipment and operational strategies must be handled in the same way. Building more routes is usually the solution that first comes to mind, but nevertheless it may not be the best. In addition, adding capacity requires a large investment. The facilities, the locomotives and the crews are expensive.

A locomotive cost almost $ 2 million, and in addition, it takes staff to maintain it, which means a significant life cycle cost. Training the crew is very expensive. It takes months to hire, train and provide knowledge to train and engine service personnel. For that period, the new personal is an operating cost that will have a significant impact on both earnings and operating ratio. Whether the increase in capacity is due to the addition of locomotives, tracks or personnel or perhaps a combination of them, it is a great investment; costs that always need to find the necessary financing. In rail, the quality of service, operational efficiency and financial returns are in a constant balance. If there is very little capacity, traffic and revenues are lost and costs increase. But too much capacity means that finance decreases, and the availability of capital becomes more expensive. Therefore, the railway is in a continuous struggle to create a capacity called "just in time"; that is, to have the necessary resources just and when they are necessary. Finally, all capacity solutions require long lead times. The construction of a new intermodal terminal is a five-year proposal without significant environmental and community impact problems. It takes a year to get new locomotives in a tight market. Freight cars have a waiting time of one year or more in a tight market. As noted above, it takes a year to hire and train a locomotive engineer. (Railroad Capacity Issues, James MacClellan)

Possible solutions

• Use more existing resources. The operative breads can be modified with the aim of making them more efficient, in fact, practically all the railroads are pursuing such changes. But all this sometimes implies the need for greater communication with customers, since they are the ones who must understand the costs of maximum service and special handling. However, railroads are moving towards rates that are more appropriate for a universe with limited capacity. All this has a strong counterpoint, and is that no company wants to antagonize its customers as long as there are still other alternatives.
• Add resources. With the aim of addressing larger businesses, capacity can be added. However, this is expensive and potentially dangerous, so the railways will not move forward until they are sure that the environment will accept such changes in the long term. In addition, any capacity improvement project will not be implemented until all possible alternatives have been verified and it is concluded that there will be substantial benefits.
• Reduce traffic Another option to deal with this issue is the use of demarketing. Thanks to this, traffic can be reduced, since the demand for transporting low-margin charges and creating extraordinary congestion would be attempted.
• Lower service standards. Railways can consider reducing the quality of service at certain times of the day or according to certain customers. A poorer service strategy or higher rates during peak hours is a de facto reality with all current modes of transport.
• Technology. In the past, technology has been introduced into the railroad world at a relatively slow pace. Dieselization, for example, took more than a decade to build locomotives and create support stores and fuel supply facilities. The heavier cars represented a substantial improvement in the infrastructure of the road structure, and the addition of double-stack container wagons required modifications on thousands of routes. Of course, technology will play a crucial role in the development of railway capacity. But according to the history, whenever there has been an introduction of technology has come with a significant investment. What is more, the rail system is simply so extensive that most changes could become so costly that the ability to add technology is frankly limited by both physical and financial constraints.

Conclusions

As it is obvious the necessity of capacity, it is also obvious the financial constraints that will be imposed. There is not enough money to do all the things that the railway would like to do. Both costumers and companies are willing for more capacity, however, railroads would not move forward until they know the investment will came with economic benefits. The financial limits and the times needed leads to the conclusion that finding low-costs and quick solutions is critical.