초록 ▼

A process for scheduling the travel of trains on a rail corridor. The rail corridor includes a plurality of siding tracks onto which trains can be sided when a meet or pass occurs with another train on the corridor. A gradient search process is used with a cost function to determine the optimum sche

A process for scheduling the travel of trains on a rail corridor. The rail corridor includes a plurality of siding tracks onto which trains can be sided when a meet or pass occurs with another train on the corridor. A gradient search process is used with a cost function to determine the optimum schedule by moving each meet and pass to a siding. The individual train schedules are varied by changing train speed and/or the train departure time (i.e., the time at which the train enters the corridor).

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A method for scheduling the movement of a plurality of trains operating on a rail corridor to accommodate the intersection of trains traversing the rail corridor, whereby each train has at least one variable travel parameter, whereby the rail corridor includes at least

[ What is claimed is:] [1.]1. A method for scheduling the movement of a plurality of trains operating on a rail corridor to accommodate the intersection of trains traversing the rail corridor, whereby each train has at least one variable travel parameter, whereby the rail corridor includes at least one main line and a plurality of secondary tracks onto which a train may be moved to avoid an intersection with another train, said method comprising the steps of:(a) deriving a localizer function to represent the rail corridor, wherein said localizer function has a value within a first range between secondary tracks and has a value within a second range in the vicinity of each secondary track, wherein the localizer function represents each secondary track as having equal length;(b) selecting a value for at least one travel parameter for each of the plurality of trains;(c) finding the intersection points for the plurality of trains;(d) determining the value of said localizer function for each intersection point;(e) summing said localizer function values to create a schedule feasibility cost function sum, wherein said schedule feasibility cost function sum represents the cost function associated with the intersection of trains at a secondary track;(f) changing one or more of the values selected in step (b) to find the minimum of the cost function.