Surface transport capacity at a port: case of a coal export terminal

A large coal terminal on the Australian coast receives coal from several mines which is exported to a large number of markets around the world The coal is brought to the terminal by trains run by State Railways. The chain of events in the transport of coal from mines to the port has been modeled and a comprehensive analysis of duration and distribution of activity times and delays has been undertaken to enable benchmarking of all activities involved This information has been used to estimate the optimal rates of loading coal at mines, unloading at the rail receival station at the port and the journey times from mines to the terminal The analysis of all delays has been considered in the estimation of land-based capacity. Cycle times for train trips to each mine have been developed under alternative scenarios and are based on the 1996-98 proportion of coal transported from each mine. The analytical approach and capacity estimation procedure are presented in the paper