The U.S. Department of Transportation's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, under the direction of the Federal Railroad Administration, conducted a 3-year demonstration of an automated prototype railroad infrastructure security system on a railroad bridge. Specifically, this commercial-off-the-shelf technology system was installed at a bridge in Pittsford, New York, where trespassing is commonplace and fatalities have occurred. This video-based trespass monitoring and deterrent system had the capability of detecting trespass events when an intrusion on the railroad right-of-way...

In investigating the derailment of Amtrak's Auto Train on April 18, 2002, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that an accurate count of persons on the train at the time of the accident was not available at the accident scene. NTSBnoted that emergency response would be improved with accurate count data at the accident scene and issued a Safety Recommendation to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that it develop and implement an accurate passenger and crew accountability system. This report assesses the weaknesses in Amtrak's passenger accounting system, the costs of...

The Public Education and Enforcement Research Study (PEERS) was a collaborative effort between the Federal Railroad Administration, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and local communities in the State of Illinois. The purpose of the project was to promote safety at highwayrail intersections by reducing incidents, injuries, and fatalities through new technologies and methodologies. The role of the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center was to monitor and evaluate highway-rail intersections in Illinois communities using video data collection while the communities conducted...

The research team conducted a project to repair cars for use in a full-scale train-to-train collision test with crash energy management systems. The two cars had been damaged in previous dynamic tests. Several components required replacement, and some required design modification. This report describes the damage to the cars from the tests, and the various actions needed to repair and modify the components. Some collision dynamics and finite element analyses were conducted in support of the modifications. The projectincluded fabrication and assistance in implementing the repairs.

This report provides an update on the state-of-the-art technologies with intrusion and obstacle detection capabilities for rail rights of way (ROW) and crossings. A workshop entitled Intruder and Obstacle Detection Systems (IODS) for Railroads Requirements was held in 1998, and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center published the proceedings in 2001. A suite of possible alternative detection technology systems were then field-tested; the results were published in 2003. A host of novel approaches to detection involving existing and emerging technologies have since appeared. This...

This report describes the results of a finite element-based analysis of the train to train impact test conducted at the Federal Railroad Administration's Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO, on January 31, 2002.

The purposes of the workshop were to provide up-to-date information and research reports from selected organizations, analyze a number of safety research topics by a selected group of delegates from all areas of technology and government organizations associated with the rail industry, and define a new practical list of research needs for the Highway-Rail at Grade Crossing Safety Program of the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Research and Development and Office of Safety in coordination with other organizations having similar needs.

Two full-scale oblique grade crossing impact tests were conducted in June 2002 to compare the crashworthiness performance of alternative corner post designs on rail passenger cab cars. On June 4, 2002, a cab car fitted with an end frame built to pre-1999 requirements impacted a steel coil at approximately 14 mph (22.5 km/h). Following on June 7, 2002, a cab car fitted with an end frame built to current requirements also impacted a steel coil at approximately 14 mph (22.5 km/h).

This report provides a summary of the private highway-rail grade crossing safety inquiry conducted by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration and the Volpe Center. The safety inquiry consisted of a series of public meetings to solicit oral commentary on the safety of the nation's private highway-rail grade crossings, a docket for electronic comment submission, a panel discussion at the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting, and other activities as described in the table of contents.

Between the years 1994 and 2003, incidents at highway-rail grade crossings declined by 41.2 percent. The reasons for this decline were unknown. The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center was tasked by the Federal Railroad Administration to identify the salient success factors in highway-rail grade crossing incident reduction. The success factors were analyzed and investigated using various qualitative and quantitative methods. Ten factors were identified as the most influential safety factors. The ten factors are: Commercial Driver Safety, Locomotive Conspicuity, More Reliable...