Planning Problems in Intermodal Freight Transport ...

1. INTRODUCTION
Emerging freight transport trends, such as a geographical expansion of distribution
networks and the increasing development of hub-and-spoke networks, demonstrate the
importance and necessity of intermodal freight transport systems. A general description of
current issues and challenges related to the large-scale implementation of intermodal freight
transportation systems in the United States and Europe is given by Zografos and Regan [1]
and by Vrenken et al. [2]. The objective of our paper is to provide an overview of the state-of-
the-art research on planning problems in intermodal freight transport. Macharis and
Bontekoning [3] discuss the opportunities for operations research in intermodal freight
transport. The authors give a review of operational research models that are currently used in
this emerging transportation research field and define the modelling problems which need to
be addressed. Their overview covers papers until 2002. Because this is a very young field in
transportation research, a significant number of papers on this topic have appeared in recent
years. Therefore, we provide an update and focus on the planning issues in intermodal freight
transport research. Following Crainic and Laporte [4], the presentation is organized according
to the three classical planning levels: strategic, tactic and operational. Conclusions are drawn
on the accomplishments and future perspectives in intermodal freight transport.
2. METHODOLOGY
A scientific literature review is performed to update the survey of Macharis and
Bontekoning [3]. A computerised search strategy was selected in order to detect recent
publications in intermodal freight transport. As a preliminary step we searched the database of
Dissertation Abstracts and the (Social) Sciences Citation Index (SCI). Next, a separate search