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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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 2015 TRB 94th Annual Meeting: Plan Now to Exhibit at Our New VenueJuly 22, 2014 On July 24, 2014, all businesses and organizations will have the opportunity to register for exhibit space to showcase their products and services to nearly 12,000 transportation professionals in attendance at the TRB 94th Annual Meeting, January 11-15, 2015, in Washington, D.C. The meeting, to be held at a new venue, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, will provide new benefits to exhi... |
 Reducing Wheel Climb at Switch Points to Reduce Derailments July 20, 2014 TRB’s Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Safety Programs Project 23: Reducing Wheel Climb at Switch Points to Reduce Derailments presents survey results and an engineering analysis of international maintenance practices for reducing risk of wheel climb at switch points, and describes the potential application of these practices for U.S. freight and passenger railways. |
 2015 TRB 94th Annual Meeting and Transportation Research Record: Paper Submissions Due August 1, 2014July 18, 2014 TRB is accepting papers for consideration as part of the program for the TRB 94th Annual Meeting , January 11-15, 2015, in Washington, D.C., and for publication in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). The spotlight theme for the 2015 TRB Annual Meeting is Corridors to the Future: Transportation and Technology. Spotlight sessions, workshops, and... |
2014 Global Level Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Symposium*July 2, 2014 TRB is cosponsoring the Global Level Crossing Safety and Trespass Prevention Symposium on August 3-8, 2014, in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. Attendees at the conference will have the opportunity to share best practices on safety at level crossings and trespass prevention programs. The symposium's preliminary program is now available. |
2015 Joint Rail Conference*: Abstracts Due by September 15, 2014June 25, 2014 TRB is cosponsoring the 2015 Joint Rail Conference: Railroad Engineering Technology – Learning from the Past, Building for the Future on March 23-26, 2015, in San Jose, California. The conference is designed to address all aspects of railroad civil, mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering, as well as rail safety, planning, design, financing, operations, and management. Freight and passe... |
 TR News November-December 2013: Designed for Implementation and Impact: SHRP 2 Products and ProceduresJune 11, 2014 The full PDF version of the November-December 2013 issue is now available. TRB policy is to release the full PDF version of a TR News four months after its release in print format. This issue of the TR News focuses on the impacts and implementation of products, tools, and research results and findings of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) are presented in the November–Decemb... |
 Intercity Rail Passenger Systems Update: May 2014May 19, 2014 The TRB Standing Committee on Intercity Passenger Rail has released the latest issue of its Intercity Rail Passenger Systems Update. The online newsletter is published intermittently and is designed to disseminate information about current research and developments in intercity rail passenger systems. Articles in this issue review the Federal Railroad Administration's draft system safety regula... |
2015 TRB 94th Annual Meeting and Transportation Research Record Call for PapersMay 12, 2014 TRB standing committees have issued calls for papers for the TRB 94th Annual Meeting, January 11-15, 2015, in Washington, D.C, and the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). While papers addressing any relevant aspect of transportation research will be considered, some committees are soliciting papers in specific subject areas to help potential... |
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 Rail Transit Track Inspection PracticesMay 6, 2014 TRBs Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 107: TCRP Synthesis 107, Rail Transit Track Inspection Practices offers information across a range of older and newer U.S. rail transit agencies on track inspection practices and policies. Since there are no actual rail track safety or maintenance standards promulgated for transit, this report is designed to help to provide rail transit... |
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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 investigate the underlying causes of highway crashes and congestion in a short-term program of focused research. To carry out that investigation, SHRP 2 targets goals in four interrelated focus areas--Safety, Renewal, Reliability, and Capacity.
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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.
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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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