Networks on RailsAnalysis of Railroad Connections in the WesternUnited States

Presentation: Sam Delaney

CS 765

14 OCT 2014

Breakdown The problem Railroad history Analysis history Plan of Action Wrap up and Review Questions

The Problem!What are we talking about?

What are we trying to do? Railways are an obvious network

Stations are nodes Rails are edges

But is it a “good” network? Railroad history Efficiency Political vs Practical

The problem as it stand today Can we transform the rail system of the Western United

States into a network that we can analyze?

Based on this network what features can we extract?

Finally, with these features extracted can we create a procedure to enhance the network for certain parameters?

Why is this problem important? Business application Government taxation and regulation Military assets

The History of RailroadsHow we arrived

Railroads explained Early Railroads

1830 – Tom Thumb, first locomotive to run in the US Early transportation

Poorly mapped, few nodes and edges No means to move large quantity of goods ‘Breaking Bulk’ Documentation/Studies

Modern Railways 1956 – First analytical study of US railway system Federal Railroad Administration and the DOT

Rail Network Development Initiative Major Railroad entities

Union Pacific Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Norfolk Southern

Competition with other transportation mediums Air Travel US Highways

Previous StudiesThose who came before us

Railroad Analysis

Stations = nodes 587 important stations > 8 000 actual station N = 587

Edges = Trains connecting two stations 579 important trains > 10 000 actual trains L = 579

Characteristics found Mean path length 2.65; Clustering Coefficient = 0.69 Small world

India Rail Network (IRN)

Railroad Analysis

Stations = nodes 3 915 stations N = 3 915

Edges = Trains connecting two stations 22 259 edges L = 22 259

Edges were directional Weighted vs weighted results

Characteristics found Mean path length 3.5; Clustering Coefficient = 0.835 Small world Scale free network

China Rail Network (CRN)

China Rail Network Power Law Distribution

Network Modeling Analyze traffic loads Develop and promote new

links or policies to increase Profitability Efficiency

Two studies Coal network (Eastern US) Transportation network (US)

The PlanWhere do we go?

How are we measuring? Clustering Coefficient Shortest Path Diameter Betweeness Weights

Cost Maintenance Fuel Personnel

Putting those measurements to use What future links could be made? What current links could be removed? Is the current system “good”

Small world? Scale-free?

How does it measure against other mediums? Air travel? US Highway?

What’s the difference? Combination approach

Analysis Future Modeling

United States vs Europe vs Asia Take into consideration Company vs Government Control

The Wrap UpConnect the dots

Wrap Up Why analyze the rail system? How did the railroad come to be? What have others done in regards to this problem? How is this study different?

Questions?