US 11,887,028 B2
Systems and methods for scheduling track maintenance
Mitchel Jeffrey-Roy Smith, Fort Worth, TX (US); Daniel Phillip Clark, Trophy Club, TX (US); Karl Lewin, Grapevine, TX (US); Jose Gerardo Garza, Fort Worth, TX (US); and Christopher Jason Thompson, Grapevine, TX (US)
Assigned to BNSF Railway Company, Fort Worth, TX (US)
Filed by BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY, Fort Worth, TX (US)
Filed on Mar. 25, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/830,054.
Prior Publication US 2021/0304095 A1, Sep. 30, 2021
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/0631 (2023.01); E01B 37/00 (2006.01); G06F 3/0481 (2022.01)
CPC G06Q 10/06311 (2013.01) [E01B 37/00 (2013.01); G06F 3/0481 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method, comprising:
displaying, on a graphical user interface (GUI), a first visual representation of locations for a plurality of railroad stations in relation to a plurality of railroad tracks;
receiving a request for a first maintenance window;
determining that the request for the first maintenance window is associated with a subset of the plurality of railroad stations;
displaying, in the first visual representation, a visual indication indicating that the subset of the plurality of railroad stations is associated with the maintenance request;
determining a first time period;
receiving, via the first visual representation displayed on the GUI, a selection of a railroad station from the subset of the plurality of railroad stations associated with the maintenance request;
displaying, on the GUI, in response to the selection of the railroad station on the first visual representation, a second visual representation of information associated with the subset of the plurality of railroad stations associated with the maintenance request covering the first time period, wherein the information comprises:
an indication of a time that a respective train is scheduled to cross one or more of the subset of the plurality of railroad stations associated with the maintenance request during the first time period; and
an indication of a time duration for a second maintenance window for a respective railroad station of the subset that has been scheduled to occur during the first time period, wherein the indication of the time that the respective train is scheduled to cross the one or more of the subset of the plurality of railroad stations associated with the maintenance request and the indication of the time duration for the second maintenance window are presented in the second visual representation concurrently;
displaying, on the GUI, the first visual representation and the second visual representation as a single visual representation indicating the subset of the plurality of railroad stations associated with the maintenance request and one or more traffic gaps within the first time period, the one or more traffic gaps representing durations of time uninterrupted by a train scheduled to cross the railroad station or another maintenance window, wherein the indication of the time that the respective train is scheduled to cross the one or more of the subset of the plurality of railroad stations associated with the maintenance request is different from the indication of the time duration for the second maintenance window; and
providing a control element on the single visual representation to enable scheduling the first maintenance window within one of the one or more traffic gaps.