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    <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <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>
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      <title>Transport Research International Documentation (TRID)</title>
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    <item>
      <title>Findings from a Preliminary Review of Switching Operations Training Needs</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2742150</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sponsored this project to develop guidelines and trainings for switching operations and shoving movements in rail yards. This project aims to produce safety themes from focus groups with yardmasters; these themes will assist FRA to identify future research areas and training for railroad worker safety in classification (switching) yards. This project originates from a Transportation Research Board (TRB) Research Needs Statement describing the need for railroad worker safety research on switching operations and shoving movements in rail yards. Moreover, FRA incident data from 2016 through mid-May 2024 show that switching represents more than half of human factors cause codes. Through literature review, incident data analyses, and stakeholder interviews, this project identifies topics and designs switching operations curriculum, specifically including shove movements. The curriculum is intended to supplement existing new-hire and recurrency training programs at railroads. This one-year, exploratory project is also conducting research into the changing roles and responsibilities of yardmasters. The progress and results of that portion of the project will be presented in future reports. This Research Report documents the preliminary findings, issues, gaps, and associated topics in support of a switching operations curriculum development that can be used by the railroad industry to supplement ongoing training programs. The initial project activities highlight four main findings: (1) current classroom training and on-the-job training (OJT) for new hires would benefit from an extension in the length of time for both types of training; (2) the craft mentor role in OJT would benefit from more consistent selection criteria, mentor training, and performance assessment for the position; (3) craft representation throughout the entire new-hire training process would allow the craft perspective and experience to be more consistently reflected in the training program; and (4) training materials could provide greater emphasis on novel situational awareness techniques, such as mindfulness, to prevent distraction during switching operations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:34:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2742150</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Examination of Relationship between Railway Noise, Lifestyle Activities and Passive Noise Protection Solutions among the Population Living near the Train Marshalling Yard of Sopron</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2686182</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Noise pollution from traffic is a growing social challenge. The effects of railway noise are concentrated in transport hubs, such as marshalling yards. Various sources of vehicle noise negatively affect quality of life and can disrupt everyday activities. Despite this, protection against sound effects at the individual level is practically limited to the use of passive noise protection solutions. The purpose of this article was therefore to examine the subjective correlations between railway noise events, disrupted daily activities and passive noise protection solutions found in households by means of a questionnaire survey among the population living in the vicinity of the train marshalling yard of Sopron, Hungary. The received binary (yes or no) answers were evaluated using Fisher tests, first between noise events and disturbed activities, and then between activities and noise protection solutions. The correlation values included in tables were also supplemented with correlations between the groups, combined from answer options. It could be concluded that the role of passenger and freight trains in this environment goes far beyond train marshalling. In addition, the effects on resting and recreation are outstanding, and effective solutions are to plant vegetation and use thermal insulation to reduce them. To expand the results above in the future, it is necessary to compare the answers with objective acoustic parameters with independence tests and to repeat the questionnaire survey in similar living environments in other cities to recognize regional trends.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:29:26 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2686182</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>MOTIONAL: Advancing the Future of European Railway Systems Through Digitalization and Integration</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2671803</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Flagship Project “MOTIONAL”, supported by Europe’s Rail initiative, paves the way for implementation of the future European Capacity Planning and Traffic Management System, built on digitalisation, automation, connectivity and multimodal integration. Lead jointly by Hacon and Trafikverket “MOTIONAL” with its 89 partners aim to achieve a significant advancement in the state-of-the-art railway systems by pursuing the way to digitalization and interoperability across Europe. To achieve the expected results activities are carried out in two different working domains. The first domain covers three focus areas; planning, operational activities - which includes managing future interactively coupled timetable planning; and finally operational traffic management systems - which also includes integration activities for door-to-door mobility. The second domain refers to the delivery of a set of digital enablers for all European rail destinations, i.e., crosscutting, to support the development of destination-specific digitalisation solutions. The main outputs of the project will be significant improvements to the railway systems in Europe through the development and implementation of a range of technical enablers. The results of FP1 MOTIONAL will enhance the strategic and tactical capacity planning of the network by enabling a seamless cross border planning and integrated yard and station capacity planning and using modern optimisation and simulation technologies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:05:36 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2671803</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Reducing the number of shunt movements by rescheduling trains</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2685406</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In the off-peak hours, rolling stock is put on shunting yards. Since the number of used trains increases and the size of the shunting yards remains the same, it becomes harder and harder to find a feasible schedule for the shunting yards. The Dutch Railways (NS) is developing a software package that is capable of finding feasible schedules, but these often contain a high number of shunt movements, which is undesirable. In this paper, we propose a method that can reduce the number of shunt movements in existing feasible schedules by repeatedly rescheduling trains. We repeatedly reschedule one train at a time using the observation that finding a new schedule is equivalent to finding where and when a train will park. We build a model that allows us to find feasible parking locations and time intervals while taking into account the length of the tracks. By carefully looking at the position of the trains on the track, we are also able to avoid a special type of movement, called move-up movements. We apply a variant of a shortest path with time windows algorithm on this model, resulting in a schedule with the smallest number of movements for the rescheduled train. We then extend this approach to reschedule two trains simultaneously. We conclude with experiments on real-world data and a description of other possible use cases for the developed algorithm.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2026 10:20:54 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2685406</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Research on Automated Modeling Technology of Parking Lane Parameters in Railway Yards</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2113872</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The core technical support to realize the automatic design and modeling of railway yards is to establish a parameter-driven parking lane track deployment mathematical model, which is the main purpose of this research. According to design and engineering needs, aiming at the two main connection modes of parking lanes, three interdependent key control parameters (parking lane length, intersecting line length and junction line length) are reasonably proposed to drive the track distribution model. Through complex numerical calculations, high-precision closed conversion between various control parameters is realized, and the reliability is verified through experiments and actual modeling effects. According to the line position relationship constructed by the mathematical distribution model, each parking track can be easily output and three-dimensional modeling can be carried out on it. This creates important implementation conditions for the further establishment of platform automation modeling.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:31:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2113872</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Integrating Berthing Plan and Container Transshipment at the Sea-Rail Intermodal Terminal</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2686154</link>
      <description><![CDATA[ABSTRACT The adoption of positioning, tracking and communication technologies in modern ports enables real-time monitoring of vessel arrivals, container movements and equipment status, while automated technologies help ensure operations adhere more closely to schedules. These capabilities allow ports to implement more intelligent and dynamic planning and scheduling strategies. Building on this technological foundation, this paper investigates a comprehensive operation optimization approach that integrates the berth allocation (BAP) and container transshipment problem at a port terminal within a sea-rail intermodal transportation system. The study focuses on berth and quay crane allocation on the quayside, as well as container storage and train operation scheduling on the landside, with components interconnected through the flow of import intermodal containers. A mathematical programming model is developed and a variable neighbourhood search algorithm is proposed, with its performance compared against GUROBI and other heuristic algorithms. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic approach. Furthermore, the impacts of quayside equipment deployment and rail yard operational capacity are analysed to provide managerial insights for improving container terminal operations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:13:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2686154</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Priority rules for handling containers to improve energy consumption and terminal efficiency</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2603883</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This paper addresses the optimization of the yard crane handling processes in a container terminal to reduce energy consumption and improve overall system performance. More precisely, the paper presents and evaluates different sequencing rules, based on predefined priorities, to organize the rail yard to minimize moves during the rail loading operations. The minimization of overall energy consumption and maximum tardiness are considered, simultaneously assessing these two components of the objective function to better understand how they interact and how they can be optimized together. As a novel issue in optimization, a hill climbing algorithm is implemented, searching for the yard configuration that most improves the efficiency of container handling while being able to integrate different management rules of the terminal. The reference case study is the PSA Pra terminal in Genoa, Italy. A full rail yard with known delivery times, and crane operating along a single stack, is the operative scenario. Random due time sequences are generated during test instances, while technical data of crane are used. Moreover, crane movements involve both loading and unloading along multiple axes. From the results, the best priority rules improve energy consumption and lateness of the initial configuration of the yard by up to 55%, thus allowing the terminal management to reorganize the storage areas accordingly and improve their efficiency. The proposed priority rules bridge the gap between theoretical optimization procedures and container terminal practices.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 09:09:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2603883</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Elimination of Random Car Sequence in Trains</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2643098</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In this thesis the author emphasizes the economic and operational consequences of random car sequencing during train assembly. He compares traditional flat and hump yard designs, analyzing their physical layouts, switching procedures, and limitations in eliminating randomness within train consists. He points out that while the car classification process has been highly automated in hump yards, the train assembly process has remained manual. The thesis proposes the individual car selection (ICS) yard design—also known as a “Herringbone” or “Trainmaker” yard, as a highly automated classification and sequencing system, that can automate the assembly of outbound multiple-block trains in proper standing order.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:27:06 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2643098</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Fourth Track at Ocean Boulevard: Lessons Learned and Staying on Track for POLB’s Rail Expansion</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2559454</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Cargo growth has been consistent at the Port of Long Beach (POLB) for over 10 years, and projections indicate it will continue to grow. To meet growing needs, strategies to efficiently transport cargo out of the Harbor Complex are required. Maximizing containers moved via on-dock rail to increase cargo velocity is a key strategy of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, California Sustainable Freight Action Plan, and California Freight Mobility Plan. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Rail Study identified rail network improvements needed over the next 25 years. Projections indicate that rail demand will likely double between 2018 and 2025. Adding a fourth track along a segment of the SR-710 corridor would greatly improve rail movement efficiency of a vital rail corridor serving the port complex. The project also enhances connectivity to the upcoming Pier B Rail Yard expansion. These projects and others will help achieve the goal of 35% on-dock rail utilization, while also contributing to the broader goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from port-related sources. This paper will detail lessons learned during the design process and construction.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 11:43:02 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2559454</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Groundbreaking—An Update on Phased Construction of the $1.6B POLB Pier B Rail Yard Program</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2559413</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The Port of Long Beach (POLB) is currently the second-busiest container port in the United States and is executing the $1.6B Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility Program (Program), which will enhance on-dock rail capacity at the Port’s shipping terminals, speeding the movement of cargo and strengthening the Port’s competitiveness, by adding critical rail car storage and dedicated arrival and departure tracks covering 171 acre. In 2024, the Program broke ground on the first two of ten individual construction projects, with two more scheduled to begin construction in 2025. The remaining six are scheduled to break ground between 2026 and 2029. Besides track improvements and facility infrastructure (e.g., roadways, pump stations, and compressed air), the up-front activity for the Program includes extensive utility relocations, property acquisitions, multi-jurisdictional agency permitting, and implementing required contracting language resulting from the $643M federal and state grant funding (including Buy America clauses). The schedules for these activities are highly variable, and when faced with mounting schedule pressure to initiate individual projects, meet grant funding timelines, and complete the Program in 2032, the team had to adapt and innovate. A new phasing plan was developed, the scope was shifted between the individual projects, and innovative delivery options were created to facilitate third-party utility collaboration and relocation implementation. This paper will provide an overview of the initial phasing plan and identify the key events that required innovative approach adjustments, the updated phasing plan, and early lessons learned as the initial phases of bidding and construction got under way. In addition, the authors will briefly review the following: (1) Program Facility Overview: Track layout and yard features, extensive third-party and POLB utility relocations, water, sewer, storm drainage, compressed air, pump stations, and lighting. (2) Real Estate and Permitting Challenges: Review of initial assumptions, updates, and lessons learned. (3) Third-Party Utility Relocation Challenges: Review the main obstacles to implementation and solutions the team deployed to manage risk and mitigate delays. (4) Cost Escalation Challenges: Review unprecedented construction industry escalation and how phasing could play a key role in managing the capital improvement budget.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2025 09:20:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2559413</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Study on Overvoltage Issues in the Traction Network of Electrified Railways Caused by the Reactive Power: Phenomenon, Analysis, and Solution</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2511723</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This article investigated the causes and solutions for the overvoltage issues in the traction power supply system (TPSS) of the electric multiple units maintenance and preparation depot (EMPD). First, sufficient field measurements in the TPSS of the EMPD were analyzed, revealing that the tens-Mvar capacitive reactive power consumed by dozens of electric multiple units (EMUs) under preparation conditions causes the power frequency overvoltage issue in the TPSS. Then, a dynamic load-modeling method for various online EMUs under preparation conditions is proposed based on a nonintrusive load monitoring (NILM) technology and a linear regression model. In addition, the equivalent model of the TPSS in the EMPD was developed, emphasizing the dynamic traction loads based on the train timetable, and the dynamic power flow calculation method was presented and verified. On this basis, the sensitivity of various factors on the root mean square (rms) voltage of the TPSS in EMPD was discussed with sufficient simulations. The results show that the transformer ratio exhibits the highest sensitivity, followed by the reactive power consumption at the power distribution system (PDS). Consequently, four overvoltage regulation schemes were introduced, employing on-load voltage regulators and passive reactor compensators. The proposed schemes are validated through simulations and engineering implementation results.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:35:23 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2511723</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Effects of Shorter, More Frequent Trains on Railroad Classification Yards: A Computer Simulation</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2516927</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The question as to whether to operate shorter, more frequent trains between nodal points in a railroad is of increasing interest to the railroad industry today. The additional operating expense might be justified by improved freight car utilization alone. In addition, given the existence of the technology to automate road train operation and the evidence of a relaxing work rules climate, management may soon be able to substantially reduce operating cost on a per-train operated basis, thereby making the short train concept even more attractive. Therefore, it is timely to consider the effects of the shorter train idea on the nodes of the network; specifically, the effects of classification yards. A digital computer simulation model is suggested. The development of a general model, applicable to all yards, is described. The model considers road trains from arrival through the switching process. These trains compete with other traffic for the processing facilities. The general model can be applied to any yard by specifying the proper physical and traffic characteristics. For a specific yard, delay times to traffic are compared when road trains are input to the model with various frequencies and train lengths while total traffic is held constant.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:40:05 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2516927</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Application and Analysis of a Simulated Model for Evaluating Yards Operations on Heavy Mixed Traffic Railway Line</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2264261</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The paper addresses the problem of proposing a new simulation model based on train makeup plan and train schedule to evaluating yards operations on heavy mixed traffic railway line. The model accurately reflects the coordination conditions of cars flow connection, train makeup plan and train schedule at related yards and sections of a rail network. A new optimal-based method has been proposed to analyze the side effects on freight transport while changing distribution of passenger trains on heavy mixed traffic railway line. A case study has been done on real data of year 1997, 2000 and forecasting data of 2002 on China's Beijing-Guangzhou railway to evaluate the increasing transit time of freight goods at yards. The results show that the simulation method provides more accurate and feasible ways to analyze the influence such as staying time of cars in successive rail yards with the new changed operations.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:57:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2264261</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Framework for a Technology Innovation for Energy-Efficient Railyards (TIEER) Pilot Study</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2499177</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Locomotives, trucks, and cargo-handling equipment in and around railyards contribute to air pollution concerns for surrounding communities and railyard workers. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is exploring a Technology Innovation for Energy-Efficient Railyards (TIEER) Initiative, which would focus on implementing zero-emissions projects. This report discusses the concept of TIEER, the benefits of replacing or retrofitting equipment to zero-emission versions, including the opportunity to modernize and optimize equipment tailored to the railyard’s needs, and considerations for conducting a TIEER pilot study. This report also provides an overview of zero-emissions technologies, funding opportunities for zero-emission equipment, and case studies of select zero-emissions projects.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2499177</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Railroad Investigation Report: Union Pacific Railroad Train Collision, Chico, Texas, April 16, 2023</title>
      <link>https://trid.trb.org/View/2485248</link>
      <description><![CDATA[On April 16, 2023, about 6:44 p.m. local time, southbound Union Pacific Railroad train GSHFCC 15 crossed a main track switch lined toward yard track C-4 and collided with parked Union Pacific Railroad train RDACO 14 in Chico Yard in Chico, Texas. As a result of the collision, 12 loaded hopper railcars and 2 locomotives from train GSHFCC 15 derailed, and 1 empty gondola railcar and 2 locomotives from train RDACO 14 derailed. Two crewmembers from train GSHFCC 15 were seriously injured. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the April 16, 2023, collision between Union Pacific Railroad train GSHFCC 15 and Union Pacific Railroad train RDACO 14 was the lining of the C-yard main track switch to yard track, a human error made by the Union Pacific Railroad train RHKPHQ 15 conductor. Contributing to the collision was the inability of the dispatcher and the crew of train GSHFCC 15 to determine the position of the main track switch in non-signaled territory in time to prevent the collision.​]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Jan 2025 09:16:47 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://trid.trb.org/View/2485248</guid>
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