Selection of the best alternative of railway traction for passenger transportation using the analytic hierarchy process method distributive and ideal modes

The rail industry uses a variety of traction types for passenger transport, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The renewal and development of a country’s rolling stock is aimed at selecting the optimal strategy and practical means to achieve the best result. A quantitative analysis of the different rail traction alternatives and the selection of the best alternative allows the optimal development strategy to be identified. The aim of this study is to present a methodology for assessing the quality criteria of traction rolling stock for rail passenger transport and to select the best traction alternative based on these criteria. This study has developed a framework of nine factors (criteria) that affect the quality (serviceability) of rolling stock. The significance of the criteria in terms of their normalised relative weights was calculated using rank correlation and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods. The study used the judgements of 22 experts whose opinions were in agreement. The AHP method was used to compare four types of traction for each criterion: diesel (DT), electric contact (ET), battery electric (BT) and hydrogen (HT). The novelty of research – distributive and ideal modes of the AHP method were used to evaluate all types of traction for selection the best alternative among them according to the original formulae provided by the authors. The results show that the agreed opinions of the expert team, expressed as normalised relative weights, have the highest mean values for ET (0.3866 and 0.3808). The second highest ranking is for BT (0.2164 and 0.2239). DT (0.2160 and 0.2060) is not far behind. The lowest ranking is that of HT (0.1810 and 0.1893). It can therefore be concluded that ET is the best traction alternative for passenger transport. The results of the study may prove useful for decision makers in the field of rolling stock fleet development strategy and dynamics.