Evaluation and Selection of the Railroad Route between Rijeka and Zagreb

Abstract

One of the biggest issues in railroad planning and design is determining the optimal railroad route. After the railroad route variants are determined, the major challenge is to identify and select the criteria which will be used for the analysis and evaluation of the variants. This paper is primarily concerned with the evaluation and selection of an optimal railroad route between Rijeka and Zagreb as part of the Mediterranean Corridor. The large number of criteria used to analyze solutions makes this decision-making complex. The objectives are usually in conflict with each other, and there are usually several groups of decision makers involved in the process. The aim of this paper was to analyze alternative railroad route variants using the optimization method of multi-criteria analysis. To achieve the research aim, a model comprising the defined criteria and sub-criteria including their weighting coefficients was set. To perform the analysis, the authors applied the defined model for evaluation and selection of a railway route between Rijeka and Zagreb using the PROMETHEE II method for multi-criteria ranking of alternatives and the computer software “Visual PROMETHEE”. The value of the defined model is expressed by the presented methodology of multi-criteria optimization, which is used in railroad planning and designing.