Patent ID: 6587738
Filing Date: 2003-07-01
Classification: B61L,G06Q

Abstract:
A method for optimizing the assignment of locomotives in a railroad network by minimizing a cost of moving locomotives in the network over a predetermined time period, &tgr;, wherein each locomotive is within a signaling class s from a set of signaling classes S, and wherein each locomotive is within a power class c from a set of power classes C, and wherein the distance Di,j between locations i and j on the network is known, and the cost of moving locomotives &Ggr;c as extra power as a function of power class is known, said method comprising the steps of:(a) determining the number of locomotives of signaling class s and power class c that are planned to exit location i in the direction of location j as extra power during the predetermined time period &tgr;; (b) determining the product of the result of step (a) for each power class, the distance between locations i and j, and the cost of moving locomotives as extra power as a function of each power class c; (c) summing the result of step (b) over all power classes; (d) summing the result of step (c) over all signaling classes, (e) summing the result of step (d) over all adjacent locations j; (f) summing the result of step (e) over all locations i; (g) summing the result of step (f) over the predetermined time period &tgr;; and (h) minimizing the result of step (g).