System and method for forecasting the composition of an outbound train in a switchyard

• US 20070299570A1
• Filed: 02/06/2007
• Published: 12/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canadian National Railway Company
• Original Assignee: Canadian National Railway Company
• Inventors: Muinonen, Kari, Morency, Vincent, Barker, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,060,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/19
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 17/00 Switching systems for classification yards
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 17/02 Details, e.g. indicating degree of track filling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard. The system has a processing entity for which receives information on railcar traffic for handling by the switchyard, wherein the railcar traffic includes railcars that are yet to be switched into classification tracks of the switchyard. For every departure train of two or more departure trains, the processing entity applies logic rules to the information to compute a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard. An output releases data derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, describing the traffic available for each train of the two or more departure trains.

Claims

1. ) A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard, said system comprising;

a) a processing entity for;

i) receiving information on railcar traffic for handling by the switchyard, wherein the railcar traffic includes railcars that are yet to be switched into classification tracks of the switchyard;

ii) for each of two or more departure trains, applying logic rules to the information to compute a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard;

b) an output for releasing data derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, describing the traffic available for each train of the two or more departure trains.

2. ) A system as defined in claim 1, wherein said output includes a user interface for communicating the traffic available for each train of the two or more departure trains to a user.

3. ) A system as defined in claim 2, wherein the railcar traffic includes railcars that have arrived in the switchyard and railcars inbound for the switchyard and yet to arrive at the switchyard.

4. ) A system as defined in claim 3, wherein each of the two or more departure trains is characterized by a scheduled departure time.

5. ) A system as defined in claim 4, wherein said logic rules operate to exclude from the forecast of railcar traffic available to a particular one of the two or more departure trains, railcar traffic projected to be available at a time that is subsequent the scheduled departure time of the particular one of the two or more departure trains.

6. ) A system as defined in claim 2, wherein said user interface includes a GUI.

7. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user a scheduled departure time of a departure train of the two or more departure trains.

8. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user current status information of a departure train of the two or more departure trains.

9. ) A system as defined in claim 8, wherein the current status information distinguishes between a departing status associated with train that is ready to depart and an inspection status associated with a departure train undergoing inspection.

10. ) A system as defined in claim 8, wherein the current status information distinguishes between a departing status associated with a train that is departing and a planned status associated with train that is planned to be build.

11. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user a departure track of the switchyard in which a particular one of the two or more departure trains is located.

12. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, in terms of number of railcars.

13. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, in terms of length.

14. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, in terms of weight.

15. ) A system as defined in claim 6, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, broken down in train blocks.

16. ) A system as defined in claim 18, wherein said train blocks include core blocks.

17. ) A system as defined in claim 16, wherein said train blocks include filler blocks.

18. ) A system as defined in claim 15, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the number of railcars in a train block.

19. ) A system as defined in claim 15, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the length of a train block.

20. ) A system as defined in claim 15, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the weight of a train block.

21. ) A system as defined in claim 2, wherein said logic rules are first logic rules, said processing entity applying second logic rules to determine if the computed forecast of the railcar traffic that will be available to a particular one of the two or more departure trains for transport out of the switchyard, exceeds a capacity of the particular departure train.

22. ) A system as defined in claim 21, wherein if the computed forecast of the railcar traffic that will be available to a particular one of the two or more departure trains for transport out of the switchyard, exceeds a capacity of the particular departure train, said processing entity being operative to generate an alert to the user via said output.

23. ) A system as defined in claim 2, wherein the forecast of railcar traffic includes a first projection of the railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard and a second projection of the railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard.

24. ) A system as defined in claim 23, wherein the second projection is more accurate than the first projection.

52. ) A system as defined in claim 2, wherein said assigning includes assigning to respective departure trains railcars that have arrived in the switchyard and railcars inbound for the switchyard and yet to arrive at the switchyard.

53. ) A system as defined in claim 52, wherein each of the two or more departure trains is characterized by a scheduled departure time.

54. ) A system as defined in claim 52, wherein said user interface includes a GUI.

55. ) A system as defined in claim 54, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user a scheduled departure time of a particular one of the departure trains.

56. ) A system as defined in claim 54, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user current status information of a particular one of the departure trains.

57. ) A system as defined in claim 56, wherein the current status information distinguishes between a departing status associated with departure train that is ready to depart and an inspection status associated with a departure train undergoing inspection.

58. ) A system as defined in claim 56, wherein the current status information distinguishes between a departing status associated with a train that is departing and a planned status associated with train that is planned to be build.

59. ) A system as defined in claim 56, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user a departure track of the switchyard in which a particular one of the two or more departure trains is located.

60. ) A system as defined in claim 54, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a particular departure train, in terms of number of railcars.

61. ) A system as defined in claim 54, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a particular departure train, in terms of length.

62. ) A system as defined in claim 54, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a particular departure train, in terms of weight.

63. ) A system as defined in claim 54, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a particular departure train, broken down in train blocks.

64. ) A system as defined in claim 63, wherein said train blocks include core blocks.

65. ) A system as defined in claim 63, wherein said train blocks include filler blocks.

66. ) A system as defined in claim 63, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the number of railcars in a train block.

67. ) A system as defined in claim 63, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the length of a train block.

68. ) A system as defined in claim 63, wherein said GUI is capable of displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the weight of a train block.

25. ) A method for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard, said method comprising;

a) receiving information on railcar traffic for handling by the switchyard, wherein the railcar traffic includes railcars that are yet to be switched into classification tracks of the switchyard;

b) for each of two or more departure trains, applying logic rules to the information to compute a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard;

c) releasing data derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, for describing to a user the traffic available for each train of the two or more departure trains.

26. ) A method as defined in claim 25, wherein the railcar traffic includes railcars that have arrived in the switchyard and railcars inbound for the switchyard and yet to arrive at the switchyard.

27. ) A method as defined in claim 26, wherein each of the two or more departure trains is characterized by a scheduled departure time.

28. ) A method as defined in claim 27, wherein said logic rules operate to exclude from the forecast of railcar traffic available to a particular one of the two or more departure trains, railcar traffic projected to be available at a time that is subsequent the scheduled departure time of the particular one of the two or more departure trains.

29. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user a scheduled departure time of a departure train of the two or more departure trains.

30. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user current status information of a departure train of the two or more departure trains.

31. ) A method as defined in claim 30, wherein the current status information distinguishes between a departing status associated with train that is ready to depart and an inspection status associated with a departure train undergoing inspection.

32. ) A method as defined in claim 30, wherein the current status information distinguishes between a departing status associated with a train that is departing and a planned status associated with train that is planned to be build.

33. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user a departure track of the switchyard in which a particular one of the two or more departure trains is located.

34. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, in terms of number of railcars.

35. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, in terms of length.

36. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, in terms of weight.

37. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including displaying to a user the railcar traffic available for a departure train of the two or more departure trains, broken down in train blocks.

38. ) A method as defined in claim 37, wherein said train blocks include core blocks.

39. ) A method as defined in claim 37, wherein said train blocks include filler blocks.

40. ) A method as defined in claim 37, including displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the number of railcars in a train block.

41. ) A method as defined in claim 37, including displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the length of a train block.

42. ) A method as defined in claim 37, including displaying for at least one of said train blocks, the weight of a train block.

43. ) A method as defined in claim 26, including determining if the computed forecast of the railcar traffic that will be available to a particular one of the two or more departure trains for transport out of the switchyard, exceeds a capacity of the particular departure train.

44. ) A method as defined in claim 26, wherein the forecast of railcar traffic includes a first projection of the railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard and a second projection of the railcar traffic that will be available to the departure train for transport out of the switchyard.

45. ) A method as defined in claim 44, wherein the second projection is more accurate than the first projection.

46. ) A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard, said system comprising:

a) a processing entity for;

i) assigning railcars that have not yet been switched into classification tracks of the switchyard to respective departure trains;

ii) computing a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to individual ones of the departure trains for transport out of the switchyard at least in part on the basis of said assigning;

b) an output for releasing data derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, describing the traffic available for at least one of the departure trains.

47. ) A system as defined in claim 46, wherein said processing entity determines prior to assigning a railcar to a particular departure train if space is available for the railcar in the particular departure train.

48. ) A system as defined in claim 47, wherein said processing entity does not assign the railcar to the particular departure train if there is not sufficient space for the railcar on the particular departure train.

49. ) A system as defined in claim 46, wherein said processing entity performs a computation to forecast when a processing performed by the switchyard on the railcar will be completed in assigning the railcar to a particular departure train.

50. ) A system as defined in claim 49, wherein the computation includes determining an expected switching time for the railcar.

51. ) A system as defined in claim 46, wherein said output includes a user interface for communicating the traffic available for each train of the two or more departure trains to a user.

69. ) A method for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard, said method comprising:

a) assigning railcars that have not yet been switched into classification tracks of the switchyard to respective departure trains;

b) computing with a computer a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to individual ones of the departure trains for transport out of the switchyard at least in part on the basis of said assigning;

c) releasing data from the computer derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, describing the traffic available for at least one of the departure trains.

70. ) A method as defined in claim 69, including determining, prior to assigning a railcar to a particular departure train if space is available for the railcar in the particular departure train.

71. ) A method as defined in claim 69, including forecasting when a processing performed by the switchyard on the railcar will be completed in assigning the railcar to a particular departure train.

72. ) A method as defined in claim 71, wherein said forecasting includes determining an expected switching time for the railcar.

73. ) A system for forecasting the outbound workload in a switchyard, said system comprising:

a) a processing entity for;

i) matching railcars yet to be switched in the switchyard to departure trains, said matching including forecasting for a railcar the departure train that will be available to transport the railcar out of the switchyard when the processing of the railcar by the switchyard will be completed;

ii) computing a forecast of railcar traffic that will be available to individual ones of the departure trains for transport out of the switchyard at least in part on the basis of said matching;

b) an output for releasing data derived from the forecast of railcar traffic, describing the traffic available for at least one of the departure trains.