About the FRA DOTX-216

The FRA Office of Research and Development owns and operates the DOTX-216 to support a wide range of track research programs. In addition, the FRA Office of Safety utilizes the DOTX-216 to supplement track geometry inspections performed by the Office of Safety cars. The mileage surveyed by the DOTX-216 varies year to year depending upon operational needs.

The DOTX-216:

- Entered service in 2001
- Is a towed vehicle that is AMTRAK compatible
- Is equipped with a track geometry measurement system to measure gage, alignment and track surface
- Is equipped with a vehicle track interaction (VTI) system to measure truck and car body forces in g's
- Is equipped with a Rail Profile system to measure rail profile, rail wear and rail cant
- Is equipped with a differential global positional system to provide high accuracy GPS coordinates to each foot surveyed