Conference Agenda

This paper addresses a practical operational challenge at Nongkhai Station of the State Railway of Thailand, where both passenger and freight services operate within a shared station environment. The station plays an important role not only in domestic railway transportation, but also in the broader logistics network of the Greater Mekong Subregion due to its proximity to the Thailand–Lao PDR border. In recent years, cross-border railway logistics between Thailand, Lao PDR, and China have become increasingly significant under regional economic connectivity initiatives. Nongkhai Station therefore functions as an important gateway for international freight movement, particularly for agricultural products, consumer goods, and containerized cargo transported through the Laos–China Railway connections. This growing logistics role increases operational complexity within the station, where freight activities must coexist with regular passenger services under limited infrastructure capacity.

In such an operational environment, shunting operations are essential for managing trainset and locomotive movements, including coupling and decoupling activities, passenger boarding and alighting, freight loading and unloading, as well as the immigration process. These processes are highly interdependent and constrained by limited track availability, requiring proper coordination to avoid operational conflicts, delays, and disruptions that may propagate across the wider railway network.

From a methodological perspective, the study first reviews existing railway timetabling and visualization tools to support the analysis of shunting operations. However, it is found that current tools are not fully suitable for representing detailed station yard-level shunting processes in a manner that is both operationally meaningful and sufficiently practical for the case study. While some tools provide timetable visualization or microscopic simulation capabilities, they either lack detailed focus on shunting activities or require extensive infrastructure and operational data that are not currently available. Consequently, the study adopts a conceptual analytical approach rather than relying on a specific software tool.

The paper further proposes a graphical representation of shunting operation patterns within the station along with the shunting activity list which provides standardization of the activity as a norm acting as checklist for the scheduler to reassure the overall schedule. This visualization illustrates train movement sequences, coupling and decoupling activities, and track occupancy over time in a structured format. The approach enhances understanding of dynamic station yard behavior and assists in identifying potential operational conflicts more clearly, particularly in the absence of suitable existing visualization tools. Overall, the study highlights the importance of railway shunting operations as a logistics-related scheduling problem closely connected to timetable reliability, operational efficiency, and cross-border freight transportation performance.

This paper provides the first contribution on track utilization via track occupancy chart and the second contribution on standardization of the shunting activities. Track utilization gives insight data to scheduler in term of current and statistics data to know the utilization rate of each track to do further data analysis. Standardized shunting activity list helps schedulers as checklist of the activity within the station more systematically Both contributions are to enhance proper shunting operation management within the station yard and for foundation of future disruptions.

Cross-border railway connectivity is often examined from an infrastructure perspective, with emphasis placed on the construction of railway links between countries. However, international rail services also require train path allocation mechanisms to coordinate the use of railway infrastructure across national boundaries. This suggests that physical connectivity alone is insufficient to support cross-border rail operations and must be complemented by mechanisms that facilitate operational coordination among multiple countries. This study therefore investigates cross-border railway corridors to examine how corridor-specific characteristics influence international train path allocation arrangements and to explore policy implications for the development of the Malaysia-Thailand-Laos corridor.

This study adopts a multiple case study approach. Case studies were selected based on the following inclusion criteria: the existence of regular commercial cross-border rail services, identifiable train path allocation mechanisms, and sufficient reference materials. The selected cases were then compared using four factors expected to influence train path allocation arrangements: track gauge compatibility, the number of infrastructure managers, institutional frameworks, and transport type.

The findings identify two principal models of international train path allocation: (1) allocation coordinated by a central entity across the entire corridor, and (2) allocation based on cooperation between neighboring countries. The study further finds that the choice of allocation model is shaped by the interaction among the continuity of cross-border rail operations, infrastructure governance structures, and institutional frameworks governing international cooperation. These factors influence the extent to which train path allocation can be coordinated across an entire corridor or must be managed through segmented arrangements.

The Malaysia-Thailand-Laos corridor exhibits varying operational characteristics across its segments, particularly with respect to the continuity of cross-border rail operations and transshipment requirements. As a result, train path allocation is more likely to be managed on a segmented basis rather than through a corridor-wide allocation mechanism. The findings suggest that train path allocation models adopted in other cross-border railway corridors may not be directly transferable to this corridor and that a coordination framework tailored to its specific operational context is required. This study contributes to a better understanding of the factors shaping international train path allocation arrangements and provides a foundation for developing coordination mechanisms suited to the unique characteristics of the Malaysia-Thailand-Laos corridor.

Rail transit has continuously evolved and plays an important role in improving the quality of life for urban residents. With 4.88 billion smartphone users worldwide in 2024, and reports that up to 90% of public transport passengers use smartphones during their journeys, journey planning applications have become a widely used tool for rail travel. The quality of these applications directly affects the travel experience. Developing effective journey planning applications is not straightforward. Applications must meet traveler needs across multiple dimensions, including real-time information, route guidance, fare calculation, and connections to other transport modes. At the same time, application features are shaped by the operational and governance context of the rail system. The governance model, whether state-operated, privately managed, or structured as a public-private partnership, determines who develops the application, what data can be accessed, and which features are prioritized. Understanding the relationship between application features and rail governance context is therefore important for identifying the current limitations of journey planning tools and improving the travel experience for urban residents. This study examines how rail governance models relate to the features of journey planning applications. It presents a comparative analysis of applications across nine cities, using a three-step analytical framework: rail governance model, open data policy, and application features across three categories: route planning, ticketing, and navigation. The findings reveal patterns between governance models and application features. Some applications have limited feature scope due to fragmented governance or restricted data sharing. This suggests that application limitations are not purely technical but reflect the governance structures of each city. In cities with a centralized model where a single authority controls both data and application development, applications tend to offer broader and more integrated features. In contrast, cities operating under concession-based models, where multiple operators function independently without shared data mechanisms, often produce applications with narrower feature coverage. Open data policies also play a role by determining whether transit data, such as static timetables, real-time arrival information, and fare data, is published in interoperable standards such as GTFS or in proprietary formats that limit third-party access. These findings are intended to support application developers in designing features that are realistic within the data constraints of each context. They also aim to support policymakers in considering how restructuring governance arrangements or adopting open data standards can create conditions for more capable journey planning applications, particularly in cities that are restructuring their rail systems or considering open data policies for the first time.