Count the yard itself, not what the records say is in it.
Rail Yard Counts reads a yard from imagery every week: wagons counted by type, and how much of each siding is actually occupied. A yard-map overlay and a count table come back for each pass.
What the stock position doesn't tell you
The stock position for a yard comes from the wagon-tracking system and whatever the yard reports. It answers what should be standing. Whether it is standing is a different question, and often the only way to answer it is to send someone down the sidings with a tally sheet or to ring the yard and ask. Yards belonging to a partner or a customer get asked, not walked.
That is where it costs you. A capacity review needs to know how full the sidings really run, and the records can give an average that hides which roads are choked and which sit empty. A dispute over dwell at an interchange gets argued from two sets of records, each side trusting its own. Nobody has looked at the same yard on the same day, so the argument cannot end. The analyst building the utilisation report ends up with a column of reported figures and no way to check a single one without a trip.
Rail Yard Counts gives you the look. Each week a pass over the yard footprint, wagons counted and typed, every siding read for how much of it is taken.
What comes back each week
2.1Wagon count by typeCSV
One row per pass and yard, with counts for broad types such as tank, hopper, flat and container where the shape allows it. Wagons that cannot be typed are counted as untyped, so the total still adds up. It opens in your capacity spreadsheet.
2.2Siding occupancyGeoPackage
Each siding as a line in your yard layer, with the occupied length against the siding length. It loads in a GIS next to the track layer you already hold.
2.3Yard-map overlayPNG
The yard image with every counted wagon marked, so an operations manager can see which roads are full without opening a GIS. It goes into the utilisation report as it comes.
2.4Pass-to-pass changeCSV
From the second week on, the change in count and occupancy per siding since the last pass, so a build-up shows as a trend rather than a surprise.
How it works
Mark the yard
You send the yard boundary, and the siding layout if you hold one. If you don't, we draw the sidings from the imagery and ask you to confirm them.
Weekly pass
We schedule a weekly very-high-resolution satellite or aerial pass over the footprint at 0.5 m or finer.
Detect and type
Wagons are detected and typed siding by siding, and each siding is read for how much of its length is taken.
Map and table back
The overlay, the count table and the siding layer arrive after each pass. We walk you through the first one on a call.
Alongside the records
Use it as a second source. When the yard's reported stock and the count agree, you have confirmation. When they differ, you know which siding to ask about. For a network with yards you cannot visit, it gives the capacity planner one view across all of them. For an interchange conversation, it gives both sides the same picture to start from.
Limits
- L1
Resolution floor
At 0.5 m a wagon is a few pixels wide and a good many long. That is enough to count it and often enough to say tank, hopper, flat or container. It is not enough to read a marking, a wagon number or a placard.
- L2
Wagon types are broad
Typing goes by visible shape only, and no accuracy figure is claimed for it. Wagons that look alike, wagons coupled tight in a long rake, and anything partly hidden may be grouped or left untyped.
- L3
Weekly, and a snapshot
Each pass is one moment. Shunting moves wagons between passes, so a count is true for the day of the pass. Dwell for a single wagon cannot be timed from a weekly look.
- L4
Covered track
Optical imagery cannot see inside sheds, under canopies or in tunnels. Only open yard is counted.
- L5
Cloud and clear skies
A cloudy week can cost you a pass. Passes that fail are reported as missed, not filled in.
- L6
No identities
The count is independent of the wagon-tracking system. It cannot say which wagon is on which siding, who owns it or what it carries.
Who it's for
For
- Rail freight analysts building a utilisation report across a network of yards
- Yard operations managers who want to check siding use against the stock position
- Capacity planners weighing a siding extension or a new stabling yard
- Teams with partner or customer yards they cannot walk
Not for
- Wagon tracking by number or reporting mark
- Real-time or live yard visibility
- Tunnels, sheds and other covered track
- Passenger stock and locomotive diagrams
- Train timetabling or signalling decisions
Questions before a pilot
Does this replace our wagon-tracking system?
No. It is an independent look at the yard. The tracking system knows identities and bookings; this tells you what is physically standing and how much siding it fills.
Can it read wagon numbers or reporting marks?
No. At this resolution a marking is not readable. Wagons are typed by visible shape only.
How do we check it against our own records?
Choose a yard whose stock you can reconcile and compare our count with your tally for the same day. Do it before you rely on it elsewhere.
What about yards under cover or in tunnels?
Optical imagery cannot see covered track. Only open yard is counted, and covered sidings are listed as not read.
Can it run faster than weekly?
Weekly is the cadence we offer. If you need more frequent passes, ask; we will say what imagery can support.
How does it load into what we run?
As a GeoPackage layer, a CSV and an image. We do not write into your tracking or planning systems.
Who owns the results and the imagery?
Ownership and licence terms are written into the pilot agreement before anything is ordered. Ask for them early if your legal team needs to review them.
How is a pilot bought and priced?
The price depends on how many yards and sidings, and on the imagery source. We scope a pilot to fit how you buy. No number is given here.
Pick a yard and get the count.
Tell us which yard you would start with and what the count is for. We will say whether the imagery can serve it.
Start a pilot