Patent ID: 8914162

Claim:
A track defect detection system for detecting track defects while a train is in motion on railway tracks, comprising: at least one defect sensor configured to sense an acceleration of at least a portion of the train; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) detect, in real-time while the train is in motion on the railway tracks, at least one track defect in the railway tracks based at least partially on the acceleration of the at least a portion of the train as a function of an increasing velocity of the train, such that, the greater the velocity of the train, the greater the acceleration required to detect the at least one track defect; and (b) generate track defect data based at least partially on a location of the train when the at least one track defect is detected; and a back office server computer in communication with the at least one processor, wherein the back office server computer is configured to: (a) receive, from the at least one processor, at least a portion of the track defect data; and (b) store the at least a portion of the track defect data in a track defect database, wherein the track defect database comprises track locations associated with detected track defects.