Analytical models of rail transportation service in the grain supply chain: Deconstructing the operational and economic advantages of shuttle train service

•Analysis of grain transportation supply chain.•Incorporates trucking, storage elevator operations, and rail transportation.•Comparison of shuttle train service with conventional rail service.•Analytical models of travel time, engineering cost, rail network capacity.

This paper introduces conceptual and mathematical models of the domestic grain supply chain incorporating trucking, elevator storage, and rail transportation. We compare conventional rail service supported by country elevators with shuttle service supported by terminal elevators across three critical transportation service dimensions: travel time, cost, and capacity. Even after taking into account trucking and elevator storage, the time and cost model results indicate that shuttle service transports grain faster and reduces logistical supply chain costs, respectively, relative to conventional service. The rail capacity model results demonstrate that shifting grain from conventional to shuttle service significantly increases rail capacity.