Application of collaborative ant colony algorithm for Railway Optimal Stowage Problem with Category Restriction

Collaborative ant colony algorithm (ACA) was presented for Railway Optimal Stowage Problem with Category Restriction (ROSPCR). Having distinguished the differences of specific volume between the used loading capacity and the remained, a new ACA is devised. Then improvement concerning the rules of route construction and pheromone updating is adopted on the basis of former algorithm to optimize the loading capacity and volume of vehicles, besides the least number of vehicles needed in various conditions, thus making the algorithm a more practical one. Finally an example is put forward and analyzed, proving that the ACA designed in this paper is feasible and efficient in determining the optimal loading plan with ROSPCR.