What Ponco Rail does
A bulk rail network is mines, loading points, junctions, single-track sections and a port, all sharing the same line at the same time. Ponco Rail holds the whole network in one model and solves for the train paths, possessions and logistics that move the most tonnes with the fleet and track time you actually have.
Network-wide optimisation
Ponco Rail schedules the network at once - every train path, every junction, every loading point and the port - rather than one corridor at a time. A crossing decision at one end of the line is made knowing what it costs at the other, and the plan that comes out is provably the best one the constraints allow.
Logistics sequencing
Loading, haulage, unloading and yard movements are sequenced together against throughput targets and stockpile limits, so the schedule is a logistics plan, not just a timetable.
Maintenance and possessions
Track possessions and closures are scheduled inside the same model as the services they interrupt. The result is a possession plan that takes the line out of service when it costs the least, with worksite protection, withdrawal from service, isolation and maintenance steps sequenced in.
One coordinated plan
Operations, maintenance and logistics planners work from one schedule instead of reconciling three. A change in one is re-solved against the others, and every what-if is answered with a full network plan rather than a guess.
How it works
Under the hood is the same engine as every Ponco product: Mixed-Integer, Linear and Constraint Programming, solving for a provably optimal schedule. If you want the mechanics, start with what a solver actually does and what mathematical optimisation can do for a planning problem.
Inside the product
Geographic schedule
Train paths drawn over the network map as they run, so a plan can be watched, not just read.
Track possession plan
Possession, withdrawal from service, isolation and maintenance tasks on a Gantt beside the segment schematic.
Time-distance chart
A Marey chart of every movement between mines, junctions and the port: the crossing and passing decisions in one view.
Production schedule
Throughput across the network by loading point over the planning horizon.
Network schematic
The modelled network - mines, junctions, loading points and the port - colour-coded by system.
Who it is for
Network planners, possession planners and logistics superintendents on bulk rail systems - coal, iron ore, minerals and grain - and the mine and port operators who depend on them. Data is hosted on Amazon Web Services with role-based access and per-client encryption, and everything ships as one all-inclusive annual subscription covering hosting, licence, maintenance and support.
If the problem is a plant outage rather than a rail network, see PS2 Shutdown Scheduler. If it is neither, the same engine is behind the bespoke solutions we build.