Post-disaster recovery planning for scheduled service network design using temporary capacity configurations

Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and landslides represent major natural hazards that can critically disrupt rail and road transportation services. In this regard, terminals, bridges, tunnels, and track segments can be damaged, thereby degrading overall network performance. As a result, scheduled services may be delayed or even halted, posing significant challenges to the continuity and efficiency of transportation operations. This study proposes one of the first post-disaster recovery frameworks for the Scheduled Service Network Design (SSND). A key innovation of the proposed framework is the incorporation of temporary capacity configurations at damaged terminals. The recovery plan simultaneously addresses service selection, demand selection, and demand itinerary decisions over the disrupted network. When necessary, it also assigns temporary capacity configurations to disrupted terminals. To this end, a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is developed to optimize demand revenues, fixed and variable service costs, terminal holding costs, and temporary capacity setup costs. Extensive computational experiments conducted on 30 benchmark instances, along with detailed sensitivity analyses, demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed recovery framework. Comparisons are made against both post-disaster scenarios without recovery planning and the pre-disaster network optimization. The findings offer valuable managerial insights for improving service network resilience and provide practical guidance for maintaining operational efficiency in the aftermath of natural disasters.