Evaluating the operational efficiency of railway systems with sensitivity analyses to sampling variations

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric mathematical programming technique used to measure the relative efficiency of the production organization's operations. This paper presents the theoretical measures of the railway systems, along with the bootstrap DEA analysis. A DEA model is applied to evaluate the relative efficiency of railway operations of 29 UIC (Union Internationale des Chemins de fer) countries, based on the data obtained from the International UIC publications. The bootstrap DEA analysis provides information (bias estimates) on the sensitivity of the DEA efficiency index to the sampling variations. The model results are analyzed and evaluated in terms of their relative operational performance efficiency. The model results facilitate an organization's decision-making by providing valuable information.