Patent ID: 8082071

Claim:
A method of scheduling the movement of plural trains over a rail network, each train having an assigned crew to operate the train comprising the steps of: (a) maintaining a database of information related to the past performance of the movement of a first train as a function of the crew assigned to operate the first train, including crew model coefficients determined by historical parameters; (b) mapping the past performance of the movement of the first train to each individual member of the crew by creating an association between the movement of the first train and the crew responsible for moving the train; (c) mapping the past performance of the movement of the first train to a rail condition that existed at the time of the train movement by creating an association between the movement of the first train and the rail condition that existed at the time of the train movement; (d) storing the mapped past performance for the individual member of the crew and the rail conditions; (e) predicting the future performance of an individual member of a crew for a specified rail condition as a function of the stored information; (f) scheduling the movement of a second train as a function of the predicted future performance.