Freight bundling network models: Methodology and application

Intermodal transport could offer a partial solution to congestion problems over the road network, but its success will depend upon an important reorganisation of its handling and transhipping goods at the nodes. This paper presents a new methodology to model bundling operations on large multimodal freight networks. It is implemented in a GIS like software and can handle all types of bundling network configuration. By simulation with different parameter values and network topologies, the software can provide measures of impacts on flows by different modes, including intermodal combinations. A concrete study case on the trans-European network is presented and discussed.