The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has a long-standing research program to examine the puncture resistance of railroad tank cars used in the transportation of hazardous materials within the U.S. Since 2007. FRA conducted 11 tank car shell...

With support from FRA, Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI) developed a full-scale rolling contact fatigue simulator (RCFS) to research the root causes of wheel and rail surface damage. This damage comprises surface pitting, cracking, wear,...

Kansas State University researchers conducted fracture toughness (FT) tests on four, 3-point bending concrete specimens for each mixture type. Next, they fabricated pretensioned prisms with varying amounts of concrete covering the reinforcements. The...

On March 10, 2022, at approximately 10:33 a.m. PDT, a Caltrain Commuter Railroad Company (PCMZ) southbound passenger train collided with three stationary on-track maintenance vehicles at Milepost (MP) 11.6 in San Bruno, California. The collision...

Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brake technology can improve both safety and braking performance of trains. One of the technical barriers is the interchange requirement of a freight car. This barrier can be addressed either by an overlay ECP...