USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Technical Reports

Subscribe to RSS

Impact of Data Link Technology on Railroad Dispatching Operations

This study examined data link communication as an alternative channel to voice radio for railroad dispatchers. The goal was to compare how data link affected performance compared to voice radio only communications on measures related to safety, productivity, communication efficiency, and situation...

Preview Information in Cab Displays for High-Speed Locomotives

This research examined the usefulness of preview information in the control of high-speed trains. Experiments were run on a human-in-the-loop locomotive simulator. The primary goal was to examine whether the proposed information-aiding displays improved safety and efficiency of train operation...

North Carolina DOT Traffic Separation Studies: Volume I - Assessment

The Federal Railroad Administration requested the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center to assess ten sites in depth that used the Traffic Separation Study (TSS) process. The assessment involved a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the impact of the process used at each site and an...

On-line High-speed Rail Defect Detection

This report presents the results of phase 2 of the project “On-line high-speed rail defect detection” aimed at improving the reliability and the speed of current defect detection in rails. Ultrasonic guided waves, traveling in the rail running direction, were examined for this task. The advantages...

Fiberglass Wrapped Tie Performance Evaluation Report

Forty-two fiberglass fabric wrapped, solid-sawn wood ties during 300 million gross tons (MGT) of heavy axle load (HAL) traffic and eight fiberglass fabric wrapped ties with metal cover plates were recently evaluated during 125 MGT of HAL traffic at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo,...