<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="https://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
    <link>https://trid.trb.org/</link>
    <atom:link href="https://trid.trb.org/Record/RSS?s=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" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
    <description></description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
    <image>
      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
      <url>https://trid.trb.org/Images/PageHeader-wTitle.jpg</url>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/</link>
    </image>
    <item>
      <title>Exploring the Influence of Cognitive Functions on Job Burnout and Career Plateauing: Mediating Role of Job Engagement among Railway Switchmen</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2691002</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This research delves into the intricate dynamics between cognitive functions, job burnout, and career plateauing among railway switchmen in Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, focusing on the pivotal role of job engagement as a mediator. As cognitive capabilities influence how employees manage job stress and professional growth, this study uncovers how cognitive functions directly shape burnout levels and contribute to career stagnation. The findings reveal that higher cognitive engagement is a key factor in reducing burnout, while simultaneously fostering career advancement and mitigating plateauing. Job engagement emerges as a powerful mediator, offering railway switchmen not only a sense of purpose but also a crucial mechanism to combat both mental exhaustion and stagnation in their professional trajectory. This study provides actionable insights for organizations, advocating for strategies that enhance cognitive engagement and promote continuous career development, thereby improving overall employee well-being and performance. The implications extend to both theoretical frameworks and practical solutions, underscoring the importance of fostering a mentally stimulating work environment to combat burnout and career stagnation in high-demand sectors.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:48:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2691002</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Effectiveness of Preventive Maintenance in Railways</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2572567</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Railway maintenance is crucial for ensuring system availability, punctuality, safety, and comfort. Though studies have shown that in reality, maintenance is ‘imperfect’-inspections do not reveal all defects and repairs do not return components to as good as new and may even leave them in a worse state, railway maintenance planning is still based on periodic block-type and age-based maintenance policies that take no account of this phenomenon. Moreover, due to funding constraints, adhering to the conceivably optimistic recommended levels of maintenance, which are derived from such planning, is also nearly impossible. Consequently, planners adopt other factors for prioritizing maintenance, albeit in a non-systematic manner. This suggests a need to develop maintenance policies that take into account the imperfect nature of maintenance and any other practical factors, if cost-effectiveness and reduced incidents are to be achieved. As a first step in this direction, this study uses a case of specific switches and crossings (S&C) components on the Swedish railway network: crossings, the tongue device, and the heating element, to assess the level of adherence to existing maintenance standards and the extent to which repairs deter failures i.e., evidence of imperfect maintenance. It was determined that on average, only 56% of S&C errors are fixed within the recommended time, with the heating element being prioritized over the other failures considered. A comparison of the survival rates (time to first failure) before and after repairs of the components provides evidence for imperfect repair of crossings and the tongue device but evidence of minimal repair of the heating element. Overall, timely repair is seen to improve survival. The survival rate of crossings decreases by approximately 0.07% for each day repair is delayed, while it decreases by 0.02% for the tongue device and 0.08% for the heating element. This study also serves to demonstrate a method for assessing the effectiveness of maintenance regimes.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:39:05 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2572567</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A skip feature enhanced multi-source fusion framework for switch state detection</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2578296</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Railway switches are vital for ensuring the safety of railroad transportation by managing the transitions between different tracks. We propose a skip feature enhanced multi-source fusion network with an attention mechanism for effectively identifying switch states. To further improve the network performance, we propose a data augmentation method of region horizontal splice with 16 images and a novel intersection over union loss function that takes into account the area and aspect ratio of both the predicted and ground truth boxes. Finally, a switch state dataset is built to test our model performance. With a default input size of 640$ \times $×640 pixels, the proposed method achieves a precision of 87.1%, recall of 86.7%, and mAP of 89.4% which is 1.9%, 4.3%, and 1.8% better than Yolov5 baseline respectively. In addition, the inference speed of our proposed method in RTX 3070 is 50 FPS, which meets the requirements of real-time detection.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:39:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2578296</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Fast Co-simulation Approach to Vehicle/track Interaction with Finite Element Models of S&amp;C</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407469</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Simulations of vehicle/track interaction (VTI) in switches and crossings (S&C) require taking into account the complexity of their geometry. The VTI can be handled via a co-simulation process between a finite element (FE) model of the track and a multibody system (MBS) software. The objective of this paper is to reduce the computing effort in the co-simulation process. In the proposed approach, the VTI problem is solved inside the MBS software to reduce the computational effort in the track model as well as the flow of input/output between both modules. The FE code is used to supply the matrices of stiffness, damping and mass at the beginning of the simulation. An explicit time scheme is used with mass scaling. A good agreement is found between both approaches with a reduction of the computing time by a factor of 10. This new approach allows the optimization of the design of S&C in further studies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Jul 2025 08:55:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407469</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Impact of track discretisation on conflict detection and resolution under ETCS with onboard train integrity monitoring</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2576341</link>
      <description><![CDATA[To further improve the capacity on the European railway network, next-generation distance-to-go signalling systems are being developed in the context of the European Train Control System (ETCS). This paper investigates the impact of track discretisation granularity on conflict detection and resolution for ETCS with onboard train integrity monitoring. The study enhances a previously developed model for fixed-block distance-to-go signalling by introducing a track discretisation procedure and reformulating safe train separation constraints at switches. The assessment is performed on a junction and a corridor case study, using track discretisations with maximum section lengths from 50 to 800 m. Though finer discretisations potentially improve the model objective, computation times quickly increase. While the results show minimum effects of the track discretisation on the conflict detection and resolution, they suggest that maximum section lengths of 200 or 400 m may offer a good balance between solution quality and computational complexity, depending on the track layout and traffic density. Generally, reliable rescheduling decisions can already be obtained with a 800-m discretisation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2025 08:55:39 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2576341</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Numerical investigation of wheel-rail rolling contact characteristics and damage in a high-speed turnout switch panel under a large ramp</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2543489</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The damage pattern on a railway line under large ramp is more complicated than that of a standard railway line. In order to investigate the influence of the complex wheel-rail contact evolution in the turnout area on the service characteristics of the switch panel under a large ramp, this paper establishes an explicit FE model of the wheel-rail rolling contact on a 40‰ slope. The performance of a train crossing the turnout and the change in mesoscopic contact behavior is then analyzed under different operating conditions. The distribution rule for wear and fatigue damage to the switch rail under a large ramp is studied, with a regulation strategy proposed for improving the service performance of the switch rail based on the results. These show that there is an obvious cyclical incremental phenomenon on the mechanical behavior at the front end of the switch rail, with uneven abrasion distributed throughout the region. The increase in axle weight, speed and friction coefficient increases the stress concentration of the switch rail and exacerbates the damage. As the train passes through the switch panel, the service life of the switch rail can be significantly improved by reducing the traction.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Jun 2025 13:46:40 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2543489</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Lifecycle Parameters of the Project 2750 Rail Switch on Reinforced Concrete Rods</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2408087</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The article presents methodology and results of a study on durability of project 2750 switches on reinforced concrete bars laid in 2004 2007 on section O-N with mixed traffic of freight and passenger trains. The weighted average and gamma-percentile life of switches is determined in general and for its particular elements: frogs and repair kits. The project 2750 switch is one of the most massive projects on the West Siberian Railway. Data on failures of switch elements was taken from the EC ASUI for a 10-year period. The research result analysis showed that the weighted average resource of project 2750 switch exceeds 1 billion rubles GRT operating time. This is 3 times more than standard operating time established by technical requirements and thus indicates weak knowledge of project 2750 switch lifecycle. Service life of switch metal parts is 6.5 years or 760 million GRT operating time for the first track, 8 years or 640 million GRT operating time for the second track, which corresponds to 60% service life of the project 2750 switches in general. The average service life of frogs on both tracks was 115 million GRT operating time, which corresponds to 1 year of service on the first track and 1.5 years on the second track. Gamma-percentile life of frogs is 60 million GRT operating time and corresponds to the warranty period established by the switch plant. Based on the obtained operational data, a model of lifecycle cost for the project 2750 switch was constructed.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 21 Mar 2025 16:02:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2408087</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Simulation of the Movement of a Single-Car in a Sorting Tracks</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407783</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The purpose of the paper is to study the movement of a single-car in a sorting tracks. The paper gives the mathematical model of the car movement. A special feature of the mathematical model is accounting the parameters of wind loads and the possibility of moving the car back after stopping. On the basis of this mathematical model, different types of single-car were studied. The object of the study is the type of single-car. The subject of the study is the influence of the type of car on the spread of the parameters of the speed of movement of this car. It was found that for single-car, one of the important parameters is the main specific motion resistance of the car. The standard deviation of this parameter depends on the weight category of the car. When disbanding heavy cars, the spread of the parameters of the speed of movement of the car will be less both on the standard and on the real profiles of the sorting tracks. Special attention should be paid when putting light cars on the track due to the significant influence of wind loads on these cars and significant variations in the main specific resistance to movement. The obtained results can be used in the design of sorting tracks and automation of existing marshalling yards.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 21 Mar 2025 09:36:17 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407783</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Stress State Assessment of the Rails Switches Under the Influence of Truck with the Axial Load 245 kN</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407726</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Increased axial loads from rolling stock on the track and increased train speeds necessitate the evaluation of the stress state of the track on the operational characteristics of its elements. The purpose of this work is to study the stress state of the base and the rail web of the transfer curve and speed mode to ensure the possibility of passing rolling stock with increased axial loads on the switches. The paper presents the results of stress measurements of a transfer curve rail obtained during tests of a turnout with a 1/11 grade cross under the influence of freight cars with 230 and 245 kN axle loading. The results of edge stresses measurements in the rail sole and stresses in the rail neck were obtained using strain gauge hardware and software complex (SGHSC). The analysis of the obtained results showed that the increase of axial load from the rolling stock by 15 kN, or 6%, leads to the increase of stresses throughout the cross-section of the rail. The obtained dependences of edge stresses and stresses in the rail neck on the speed of rolling stock with typical and increased axial loads should be used in the design of elements of turnouts for heavy-weight traffic. This will increase the service life of switches and the capacity of the main and station tracks.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Mar 2025 10:12:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407726</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Development of Effective Schemes for Junctions on Single-Track Line Sections</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407724</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Single-track mainline railway tracks with parallel location of station tracks provided quick preparation of train routes with manual control of switches. However, this system required complete stopping of both freight trains, especially if they were simultaneously received at a separate station from two directions at once. Additional installations of freight trains reduced the throughput capacity of the branch lines with a parallel track arrangement. With the development of interlocking and signalization in the new conditions of technical progress, it became possible to design extended passing-tracks with a longitudinal arrangement of the receiving-and-departure tracks. This measure ensures reduction of time and energy required for train stoppages on the way under crossing on the single-track railway line sections. In this case, the throughput capacity of the sections for single-track lines increases. For the conditions of non-uniformity in traffic, parallel track layouts have higher costs associated with acceleration and deceleration of both freight trains at once. In the case of nonuniformity, the best conditions are created in the case of simultaneous reception of freight trains from two directions at once for longitudinally located tracks.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 19 Mar 2025 10:12:10 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2407724</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Railroad Investigation Report: CSX Transportation Head-on Train Collision, Folkston, Georgia, April 15, 2024</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2516355</link>
      <description><![CDATA[On April 15, 2024, at 1:20 p.m. local time, northbound CSX Transportation (CSX) intermodal train I03215 traversed a misaligned switch and collided head-on with stationary, loaded rock train L74314 while traveling about 28 mph on CSX’s Jesup Subdivision near Folkston, Georgia. Two crewmembers of train I03215 and one crewmember of train L74314 were hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries. ​The  National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines that the probable cause of the CSX Transportation head-on train collision were an improperly lined dual-controlled, power-operated switch that a conductor did not know how to properly operate, and the conductor’s failure to verify its position as required. Contributing to the accident was CSX Transportation’s insufficient training (recurring) and failure to implement operational procedures, such as a restricted speed requirement and secondary verification of switch position, to mitigate the risk of misaligned switch accidents during a signal suspension.​]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:02:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2516355</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Impact of Switch Faults on Train Delays: A Case Study of the Swedish Railway Network</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2493251</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Switches and crossings are prone to failure thus making them drivers of unreliability in the operation of many railway systems. Unreliability is directly linked to punctuality which continues to limit, among other factors, the uptake of railways as a sustainable mode of transport. To fix this issue, there is a need for a better understanding of the contribution of railway sub-systems to train delays. Therefore, this paper seeks to quantify the impact of switch faults (switch failures and switch inspection warnings) on the delay of a train, using historical train operation and maintenance data. The authors have investigated the increased chance of a train being delayed in the event of a switch fault and the average size of delay that can be attributed to a switch fault. They find that 1) in the event of a switch failure trains have a 1% increased chance of experiencing a dwell delay, a 0.7% increased chance of experiencing an arrival delay, and a 0.1% increased chance of experiencing a departure delay for non-stopping trains; 2) the impact of switch inspection warnings on train delays is negligible; and 3) on average, a train is delayed by six extra minutes in the event of a switch failure. This study serves as a step towards quantifying primary delays and their origin in the railway system. Understanding the sources serves the purpose of informing decision-makers on the areas for prioritization during operations planning. Understanding the source and magnitude of primary delays is also important for simulation.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 03 Mar 2025 17:02:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2493251</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Optimizing Handoff Schemes in Communication-Based Train Control: Reinforcement Learning to Reduce the Age of Information</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2511260</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This article explores the critical challenges and limitations of modern communication-based train control (CBTC) systems, particularly focusing on the dynamic and uncertain nature of train–ground communication. The concept of the Age of Information (AoI) is introduced, highlighting the discrepancies between the actual and derived states used for control, which can compromise system performance and safety. Existing solutions, such as wireless local area networking technologies and reinforcement learning handoff schemes, are discussed, emphasizing their contributions to reducing handoff latency and improving the freshness of information between the train and access points. However, their limitations in adequately addressing issues related to the AoI are critically examined. The article argues for the development of novel control approaches that consider these effects to minimize the information gap and enhance the overall performance of CBTC systems.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 28 Feb 2025 16:44:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2511260</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Big Data Architecture for Digital Twin Creation of Railway Signals Based on Synthetic Data</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2448667</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Industry 5.0 has introduced new possibilities for defining key features of the factories of the future. This trend has transformed traditional industrial production by exploiting Digital Twin (DT) models as virtual representations of physical manufacturing assets. In the railway industry, Digital Twin models offer significant benefits by enabling anticipation of developments in rail systems and subsystems, providing insight into the future performance of physical assets, and allowing testing and prototyping solutions prior to implementation. This paper presents the authors' approach for creating a Digital Twin model in the railway domain. They particularly emphasize the critical role of Big Data in supporting decision-making for railway companies and the importance of data in creating virtual representations of physical objects in railway systems. Their results show that the Digital Twin model of railway switch points, based on synthetic data, accurately represents the behavior of physical railway switches in terms of data points.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 27 Dec 2024 15:27:37 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2448667</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>A Soft-Switching Automatic Control Approach to Cooperative Operation of Multiple Trains With Human Intervention</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2425332</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This paper addresses the cooperative control problem of trains with specific consideration of human interventions in unusual situations where hard handovers on control objectives and safety constraints may occur. To overcome the effects of such discontinuous factors caused by interventions on the smooth operation of trains and avoid drastic changes in the control input, cooperative control policies with soft-switching are constructed based on novel potential energy functions and weighted functions such that, besides achieving consensus among trains for desired velocities and positions, maintaining prescribed tracking distance, collision avoidance is also guaranteed during the state transition process. Furthermore, adaptive approximation and saturation compensation mechanisms are adopted to cope with parameter uncertainties and input saturation. A rigorous proof is provided to demonstrate the correctness of the proposed results theoretically, and numerical experiments are conducted using real operation data to illustrate the theoretical conclusions.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:59:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2425332</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>