Shunting yard operations: Theoretical aspects and applications

Almost ever since freight has been transported via rail, shunting yards (also called classification or marshaling yards) are operated in order to separate freight trains and reassemble new trains. The efficient use of shunting yards has a deep impact on the efficiency and reliability of rail freight services. Thus, much research on shunting yards has been published, starting from the 1950s. Lately, several publications mostly focusing on the sorting procedures have livened up research on shunting yards. This paper reviews the literature on the operational processes at shunting yards over the last 40 years and discusses the operational challenges of freight transshipment. The approaches are classified according to different sorting strategies which allows an easy access to the models for both, researchers and practitioners. The paper concludes with an overview on future research challenges.