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Environmental Compliance Handbook for Short Line Railroads

Short line railroad operations are governed by a variety of laws passed by the federal government to regulate the impact of human activities on the environment. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in damage to the environment and potentially significant financial liabilities for clean-...

Railroad Cost Considerations and the Benefits/Costs of Mergers

This study examines the cost conditions present in the Class I railroad industry. Recent mergers and merger proposals have brought forth questions regarding the desirability of maintaining competition in areas impacted by horizontal mergers and, similarly, the desirability of end-to-end mergers. As...

Providing Wireless Bandwidth for High-speed Rail Operations

This project examined the possibility of providing wireless communication for train control systems on American high-speed trains. In this study, the key issue is that the frequencies allocated for rail operations in the U.S. and the frequencies used by GSM-R in other parts of the world have...

Cost/Benefit Analysis of Head Shields for 112A/114A Series Tank Cars

A cost/benefit analysis of head shields installed on new and existing 112A/114A series pressure tank cars was performed based on a redistribution of accident dollar losses. Head shields are designed to prevent puncture of a tank car head during an accident with resulting loss of lading and possibly...

Acquisition and Use of Track Geometry Data in Maintenance-of-Way Planning

The report describes data acquisition by the FRA Measurement Cars and subsequent use of the collected track geometry data by the Bessemer and Lake Erie (B and LE) and the Denver and Rio Grande Western (D and RGW) Railroads. These two railroads, in conjunction with ENSCO, Inc., have prepared the...