Graph Neural Networks for Inland Waterway Ship Scheduling

Inland waterway shipping, marked by its unpredictable and variable nature, plays a crucial role in transportation. This research's objective is to address these inconsistencies by constructing a robust scheduling model tailored to waterway systems' specific needs and challenges. The model is enhanced with predictive analytics and optimisation...

Modelling and Optimal Scheduling of Inland Waterway Transport Systems: A Switching Max-Plus-Linear Systems Approach

Inland waterways form a natural network infrastructure with the capacity for waterborne transport of people and goods for moving freight from seaports to the hinterland. Recently, Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) has been promoted more extensively by the European Union and various governments as it plays a crucial role in reducing road congestion...

The power of policy towards a hydrogen-powered Dutch inland waterway transport sector: An economic decision-making simulation on ship level

Hydrogen offers opportunities to develop a sustainable energy system and is essential to support the EU’s commitment to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. Hydrogen is a solution for heavy transport sectors that struggle to reduce emissions by direct electrification, such as the Dutch inland waterway transport (IWT) sector. However, the lack of...

Evaluation of the resilience of inland waterway transport to increasing periods of low flow, following a Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathway approach

Although inland waterways (IWW) are considered one of the most reliable transport modes, it is very vulnerable to climate change, more than other transport modes such as rail and road transport. The inland waterway transport (IWT) performance strongly depends on the available water depth in the waterway, which is related to the river discharge....

A Method for Studying the Effects of Infrastructure Maintenance on Inland Waterways Transport Systems

The inland waterways are an important part of the freight transport system of the Netherlands. In the coming years, a lot of maintenance and construction works are needed to keep the network operational. This can temporarily impact the availability of the waterways section which can have negative effects on the performance of inland vessels and...

Effects of drought on the traffic capacity of the river Waal and the occurrence of congestion

This research focuses on the impact of extreme low river discharges, meaning discharges below 1200 m2/s at Lobith. In 2018 extreme low river discharges in the river Rhine led to congestions in the main Dutch part, called the river Waal. The river Waal is an important river for inland navigation, but during low discharges the...

Implementing urban waterway transport as a sustainable freight transport solution: A case study for the city of Amsterdam

Urbanisation levels keep rising and all major cities in Europe face common transport and traffic problems. The city of Amsterdam needs a reliable transport and mobility system to foster economic growth, but at the same time transport is causing congestion, pollution and accidents. To scientifically explore the research question, Transport...

Perspectives on Collaboration Models in Intermodal Inland Waterway Transportation (IIWT): Simulation gaming approach for barge operators and inland terminal operators

Intermodal Inland Waterways Transportation (IIWT) has been the first alternative to reduce the dependency on road transportation in the Netherlands. However, with the growth of freight shipping demand, several problems have been faced by IIWT: small size barge’s congestion and insufficiency of inland terminal handling’s capacity. The idea to...

The Impact of Increased Lock Capacity on Inland Waterway Freight Transport

The Netherlands as the ‘Gateway to Europe’ is highly profitable for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (Ministry of I&E). To maintain this position, infrastructure investments are required to remove (potential) bottlenecks and to stimulate intermodal transport. This thesis focuses on two (potential) bottlenecks in the...

Establishing guidelines for port hinterland intermodal inland waterway transport network design: Design of an intermodal inland waterway transport network for the hinterland of the port of Amsterdam

Evaluation and comparison of three common network types (i.e. begin-and-end, hub-and-spoke, and line network) to establish guidelines for the design of port hinterland intermodal inland waterway transport networks. The research was conducted by using both literature, as well as a model that was based on existing software, but adapted from...

Coal by IWT in India: Initial optimization study of inland waterway coal transportation from Cochin to Kayamkulam, India

The demand for electric power in India has been growing steeply during the past decade particularly in the rapid industrialising southern regions and power shortages are frequently experienced. In order to cope with this problem, several coal burning power stations will be constructed along the west coast of India. One of the projected sites for...