An official website of the United States government
Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
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.
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), Norfolk Southern (NS), and John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) completed Phases 1 and 2 of a project on a working prototype geothermal switch heating system designed to test the concept and efficiency of using low-temperature...
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...
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...
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...
A number of railroad accidents have been aggravated by couplers puncturing the shell head of hazardous material tank cars. Development of means for identifying possible puncture mechanisms and quantifying the coupler forces involved is the subject of this report. A mathematical model, capable of...
In the context of items of hardware which have been developed for military use, principal causes of derailments were studied to determine those amenable to anticipation detection or by onboard sensors. Other elements for relaying sensor outputs and taking appropriate action to prevent or emeliorate...
This report describes the design and analysis of an advanced cushioning device for freight locomotives. The device, or crash energy management system, minimizes the risk of locomotive override in the event of an in-line collision. As part of the system, energy dissipative elements integrated with...
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) are conducting a feasibility and planning study – the Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative (NNEIRI) – that examines the opportunities and impacts of adding more frequent and higher...
The Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative (NNEIRI) is a feasibility and planning study (NNEIRI Study) that examines the opportunities and impacts of adding more frequent and higher speed intercity passenger rail service on two major rail routes, the Inland Route and the Boston-to-Montreal...
This report presents an Addendum to the Determination of Effects Report dated August 2015 for
the proposed Amtrak Zoo to Paoli Electrification Transmission Line Project. The National
Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is proposing a modernization project that includes the
replacement of...