General
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $1.4 Billion in Infrastructure Funding for 70 Projects That Will Improve Rail Safety, Strengthen Supply Chains, and Add Passenger Rail Service
One historic project will help restore passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast for the first time in nearly two decades
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced today that it has...
Vertical Split Rim: Causes and Prevention
Vertical split rim (VSR) is a serious railway wheel failure mode that requires further research. Visual clues are not usually present until the crack propagates through the rim. To better understand the root causes of VSRs, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Association of...
Short Line Safety Institute: Testing the Fidelity of Its Robust Model
The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) is dedicated to the continuous improvement of safety and safety culture across all short line and regional railroads in the United States. Strengthening a railroad’s safety culture may result in less frequent or severe accidents and create a safer working...
Operational Performance and Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability Analysis Model (OPRAM) Development
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (MxV Rail) conducted a project for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to complete the development of Operational Performance and Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) Analysis (OPRAM) tool. The team successfully developed the OPRAM...
Office Safety Checker for Moving Block Train Control Systems
As part of a project sponsored by FRA, TTCI developed and analyzed a concept for the Office Safety Checker (OSC) component of the Moving Block Office (MBO), a segment of a moving block train control system concept. The OSC component performs a safety validation of MBO safety-critical functions...
Vehicle Dynamics Models for Derailment Incident Investigation
When investigating a train derailment, vehicle/track interaction (VTI) using vehicle dynamics simulations of the key vehicles in the derailed train can help identify specific derailment causes. From September 2018 to March 2021, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) contracted Sharma &...
High-Strength, Reduced-Modulus, High-Performance Concrete for Prestressed Concrete Crosstie Applications
High-performance concrete (HPC) with early strength development is the material of choice for fabricating prestressed concrete railroad ties. However, the higher strength of HPC results in significantly higher elastic modulus values and increases the rigidity of the tie, leading to higher...