Integrating Train Information for Advanced Transportation Management (0-1752-7)

The report documents an effort to monitor railroad movements in a corridor and provide train-related information to multiple agencies. The report is divided into five chapters addressing the tasks of the project. The first chapter provides background information and defines the objectives. The second chapter investigates potential railroad information consumers and includes an assessment of needs. The third and fourth chapters present the prototype RailTrac System including field, telecommunication, central processing, and user interface components. RailTrac was developed to accomplish the train monitoring, data processing, and user interface goals. Chapter five describes the implementation of the prototype RailTrac System in College Station, Texas. Numerous appendices present specific topics concerning the design and evolution of RailTrac in more detail. Topics addressed include the following: field data collection station design, issues surrounding sensor location selection, evaluation of sensor technology, and the derivation of a sensor specification for train sensing and the definition of field component messages and protocols.