Multicriteria high-speed rail route selection: application to Malaysia's high-speed rail corridor prioritization

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on multicriteria decision analysis in transportation and provides a case study of high-speed rail (HSR) corridor/route selection using multicriteria methods in the context of HSR corridor prioritization in Malaysia. Using the screening method proposed by Hagler and Todorovich and the ELECTRE I multicriteria method, it is found that the southbound corridor from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore has the highest priority, followed by the eastbound corridor to Kuantan, and northbound to Georgetown. HSR trains could potentially reduce the trip times to Singapore, Kuantan, and Georgetown from Kuala Lumpur, as compared to driving, by 65–73%. The results of this study can be used to assist in the planning of HSR and/or integrated transportation systems in Malaysia. The same methods can be used to evaluate potential HSR corridors/routes in other countries or regions.

Keywords:

• high-speed rail
• route selection
• multicriteria analysis
• Malaysia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research is sponsored by the National University Rail Center (NURail), a US Department of Transportation's University Transportation Center (UTC), at the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC), hosted in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.