Designing emergency response network for rail hazmat shipments under uncertainties: Optimization model and case study

Railroad is one of the primary transportation modes for hazardous materials (hazmat) shipments in North America. Designing an emergency response network capable of providing commensurate response is one of the primary levers to contain (or mitigate) the adverse consequences from rail hazmat incidents. To this end, we propose a two-stage stochastic programming model to determine the location of response facilities and equipment packages to be stockpiled therein. Several publicly available reports were consulted to estimate the different model parameters, which in turn facilitated the analyses of the case study on a realistic railroad network in Ontario (Canada). Our study suggests that the strategic emergency response network design decision made only on the basis of empirical data would undermine the effectiveness of the resulting network. We also explore several underlying trade-offs in our model, evaluate the incremental benefit of establishing (and stockpiling) additional response facilities. Furthermore, our analyses highlight that the mean coverage can be improved by redistributing the equipment in the network, purchasing equipment with higher containment capacity, and making use of a disutility multiplier factor.