Patent ID: 8538611

Claim:
A multi-level system for management of a railway system and its operational components, the system comprising: a first level being a railroad infrastructure level, configured to control an operation within the first level, said first level including first level operational parameters defining changes in operational characteristics of service facilities of a railroad infrastructure and data of the first level, said controlling a servicing operation comprising issuing a work order to a service facility for implementing the servicing operation, said work order comprising at least one of the following: refueling instructions, scheduling a work bay, scheduling a work crew, scheduling a tool, or ordering a part, said first level configured to optimize an operation within the first level; a second level being a track network level, configured to control an operation within the second level, said second level including second level operational parameters defining changes in the operational characteristic and data of the second level, wherein the second level is a sub-level of said first level; said second level including a movement planner for analyzing the second level operational parameters for movement of a plurality of trains over a track layout, the second level configured to optimize an operation within the second level including optimizing fuel usage within the track network based on a business objective function of each of the trains, an engine performance of the trains, congestion data, and fuel weighting factors; said first level providing the second level with the first level operational parameters at regularly scheduled intervals, and the second level providing the first level with the second level operational parameters at periodic intervals; said controlling the operation within the first level and said controlling the operation within the second level each being a function of both the first and second level operational parameters; and wherein the system is configured to optimize a system operation across a combination of the first level and the second level based on a system optimization parameter, to optimize an operation within the first level based on a first level optimization parameter and the system optimization parameter, and to optimize an operation within the second level based on a second level optimization parameter and the system optimization parameter.