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Rail Research at TRB
 The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. This page highlights recently released TRB reports, meeting announcements, requests for proposals, and other announcements related to railroads. In addition, it includes links to selected railroad research-related activities taking place at the federal and state levels, and within the academic and international transportation communities. Finally, this page also highlights and provides links to TRB railroads-related programs and activities, which are the source of most of TRB’s railroad-related research products. |
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What's New
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TRB Railroad-Related Programs and Activities
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 Check Out the TRB Timeline OnlineOctober 15, 2019 Have fun while you peruse TRB's online timeline with more than 200 milestones that encapsulate the events that shaped TRB as well as the people that purposely designed, carefully constructed, and devotedly maintained the entity that is now TRB. The timeline was developed as part of TRB's Centennial Celebration and produced in part with the help of contributions by individuals and organizations.... |
 2020 TRB Annual Meeting: Plan Now to ExhibitOctober 14, 2019 Act now to secure your exhibit space at the 2020 TRB Annual Meeting, January 12-16, 2020, in Washington, D.C. All indications are that attendance at the meeting will be the largest ever. Don't miss this opportunity to demonstrate your organization's support for transportation research and innovation, and to showcase your products and services to more than 13,000 transportation professionals. So... |
2020 TRB Annual Meeting: Register TodayOctober 14, 2019 Register and make hotel reservations today for the TRB 99th Annual Meeting, January 12-16, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Registration is required for all Annual Meeting attendees, including session speakers, poster presenters, and those who attend the exhibit hall, career fair, or any workshops. As part of TRB's Centennial Celebration, all full registrants at the 99th Annual Meeting will be eligib... |
2020 Joint Rail Conference*October 9, 2019 TRB is cosponsoring the 2020 Joint Rail Conference: Railroad Engineering Technology from April 20-22, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri. Sessions will focus on railroad topics, including: Railroad Infrastructure Engineering Rail Equipment Engineering Signal and Train Control Engineering Service Quality and Operations Planning and Development Safety and Security Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Ur... |
Featured Centennial Paper - Traffic Signal Systems Research: Past, Present, and Future TrendsOctober 8, 2019 Learn about the history of traffic signal systems, and of the shifting interests of the community of researchers interested in them in the Standing Technical Committee on Traffic Signal Systems' Centennial Paper. Over the years, the committee has served as one of the principal forums on signal control and has stimulated many currents in research that have had transformative impact on the indust... |
Braceras, Shaheen among those appointed to lead TRB's Executive CommitteeOctober 7, 2019 Dr. Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, has approved appointments for the TRB Executive Committee. Carlos Braceras, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Transportation, will become Chair of the Executive Committee at the completion of the TRB Annual Meeting on January 16, 2020. At the same time, Susan Shaheen, a Professor from the University of California, Berk... |
History Highlights - Landslides!October 5, 2019 The Cucaracha Slide had first bedeviled the builders of the Panama Canal in 1907. It appeared along the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut that carried the canal through the mountains and over the Continental Divide. A huge break in January 1913 pushed back the canal’s opening to August 1914. Slides continued and dredging struggled to keep pace. A fast-growing island appeared in the canal, eventually forci... |
“Tell Us ‘Our’ Story” - How has TRB supported your professional development and career growth?October 5, 2019 TRB officially turns 100 on November 11, 2020. To help celebrate, TRB is asking you to “Tell Us ‘Our’ Story.” The TRB “Tell Us ‘Our’ Story" centennial activity is designed to allow as many of you (TRB’s volunteers and friends) as possible to participate in the TRB Centennial Celebration through the submission of your stories. The “Tell Us ‘Our” Story” Centennial activity consists of a series of... |
You Are Invited: TRB’s Centennial Website is Now Live!October 1, 2019 Please visit TRB's Centennial website today. Key parts of the site include the following: • Centennial Papers – Discover TRB’s standing committees’ past accomplishments and contributions to transportation, as well as current relevancy and activities, and consider the committees’ roles in meeting future challenges and opportunities. • History Highlights –Read short articles on major ... |
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Technical Activities Standing Committees
TRB's Technical Activities Division provides a forum for transportation professionals in all modes and functions to identify research needs and to share information on research and issues of interest. The Division's staff of specialists in each mode and discipline work with a network of volunteers to carry out activities on behalf of TRB sponsors and the transportation community, including the TRB Annual Meeting, conferences and workshops, publications, visits to each state, and responses to inquiries. This network includes members and friends of over 200 standing committees, supplemented by designated TRB representatives in each state, over 150 universities, and 35 transit agencies. |
Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2)
Congress established the SHRP 2 in 2006 to find strategic solutions to three national transportation challenges: improving highway safety, reducing congestion, and improving methods for renewing roads and bridges. Research was focused in four areas, which are described below. The program carried out 145 research projects and produced 130 products as well as 132 research reports. |
Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program
TRB's Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Program is designed to provide an opportunity to investigate new and unproven concepts or to evaluate novel applications of technologies that have been tried, tested or used for safety systems practice.
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Research in Progress in this Subject Area
TRB's Research in Progress (RiP) Database now contains more than 11,900 current or recently completed transportation research projects. Most of the RiP records are projects funded by federal and state departments of transportation. University transportation research is also included. The RiP Database also serves as a clearinghouse of University Transportation Centers ongoing research. |
Research Needs in this Subject Area
An important function of TRB is to stimulate research that addresses concerns, issues, or problems facing the transportation community. In support of this function, TRB Technical Activities standing committees identify, develop, and disseminate research need statements (RNS) for use by practitioners, researchers, and others.
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Research Completed in this Subject Area
TRB's TRID is integrated database that combines the records from TRB's Transportation Research Information Services ( TRIS) Database and the OECD's Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation ( ITRD) Database. TRID provides access to over 900,000 records of transportation research worldwide. |
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