Patent Document ID: 20140200830
Application ID: 13962310
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method, comprising: logically dividing a railroad network according to spatial and temporal dimensions with respect to historical data collected for the railroad network, the spatial dimensions including line segments of a specified length and the temporal dimensions including inspection run data for inspections performed for each of the line segments over a specified period of time; creating, via a computer processor, a track deterioration model from the historical data, current track conditions, and traffic data; identifying geo-defects occurring at each inspection run from the track deterioration model; calculating, via the computer processor, a track deterioration condition from the track deterioration model, the track deterioration condition calculated by analyzing quantified changes in the geo-defects measured at each inspection run; calculating a derailment risk based on track conditions determined from the inspection run data and from the track deterioration condition; and determining a repair decision for each of the geo-defects based on the derailment risk and historically determined costs associated with previous comparable repairs.