MORE THAN LOCOMOTIVES occupy cane railways. In addition to the locomotives that are completing their runs, bins can also be stored temporarily on the track and various other items, including maintenance equipment, can occupy sections of the network. This paper first describes the events that prevent unrestricted movements around the cane railway. It then shows how, in practice, the effect of these occupations is reduced and managed. Lastly, the paper describes how these practical considerations have been used within the Real Time Scheduling System (RTSS) to handle track occupations. RTSS schedules from two sugar factories are used to illustrate the influence of track occupations on harvest and transport operations.