Method and apparatus for coordinating railway line of road and yard planners

• US 7,937,193 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2006
• Issued: 05/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Maceo, Joanne, Philp, Joseph Wesley, Wills, Mitchell Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Black; Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): BEHNCKE, CHRISTINE M
• Application Number:
  US11/342,853
• Publication Number:
  US 20060212184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,918 Days
• Field of Search: 701/19, 701/20, 701/117, 701/118, 701/200, 701/202, 340/955, 246/3, 246/13, 246/14, 246/2, 246/2.R, 246/6, 246/184, 246/97, 104/27, 705/8, 705/13, 705/7, 700/33, 700/36
• US Class Current: 701/19
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/10 Operations, e.g. scheduling or time tables
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/12 Preparing schedules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A scheduling system and method for moving plural objects through a multipath system described as a freight railway scheduling system. The scheduling system utilizes a resource scheduler to minimize resource exception while at the same time minimizing the global costs associated with the solution. The achievable movement plan can be used to assist in the control of, or to automatically control, the movement of trains through the system. Similar movement planners exist for moving trains in yards or terminals. Coordination is achieved and system efficiency improved by interfacing the line of road and yard planners.

Claims

1. A railway scheduling system for scheduling the movement of trains through a rail network having line of road track and yard tracks comprising

a movement planner for a rail yard for scheduling the movement of cars through the yard, each car having an incremental cost associated with it, the yard movement planner optimizing the total costs of the movement of the cars through the yard, wherein the yard movement planner provides a schedule for individual cars of a specific train to perform specific tasks at specific locations in the rail yard and evaluates the specific locations to determine availability of the specific location;

and

an interface for communicating information about determined availability at a specific location in the yard for the specific train to a line of road movement planner to optimize the total costs of the movement of the trains through the rail network;

wherein the movement planner for the line of road is configured for scheduling trains over the line of road, each train having an incremental cost associated with it, the line of road movement planner optimizing the total cost of the movement of the trains over the line of road, wherein the line of road movement planner schedules the movement of the specific train as a function of the determined availability at a specific location in the yard.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the line of road movement planner delays the movement of the specific train into the yard in response to the communication from the yard movement planner.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the line of road movement planner alters an arrival at the yard of a sequence of trains as a function of the scheduling of the selected train.

4. A method for scheduling the movement of trains through a rail network having line of road track and yard tracks comprising:

scheduling the movement of cars through a rail yard using a movement planner for the rail yard, each car having an incremental cost associated with it, the yard movement planner optimizing the total costs of the movement of the cars through the yard, wherein the yard movement planner provides a schedule for individual cars of a specific train to perform specific tasks at specific locations in the rail yard and evaluates the specific locations to determine availability of the specific locations;

communicating information about determined availability at a specific location in the yard for the specific train to a line of road movement planner to optimize the total costs of the movement of the trains through the rail network; and

scheduling trains over the line of road using the line of road movement planner, each train having an incremental cost associated with it, the line of road movement planner optimizing the total cost of the movement of the trains over the line of road, wherein the line of road movement planner schedules the movement of the specific train as a function of the determined availability at the specific location in the yard.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the specific location in the yard includes at least one of receiving track, hump track, maintenance track and classification track.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the line of road movement planner alters an arrival at the yard of a sequence of trains as a function of the scheduling of the selected train.