COST OF QUALITY: A POWERFUL MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR INFRASTRUCTURE RESEARCH

An introduction to infrastructure research is presented in this paper. The railroad infrastructure includes the track, structure, and signal systems. An approach to improve the focus of research, enhancing the development of a high-quality railroad system, is presented. To that end, it is recommended that all railroads develop and deploy a total infrastructure quality-costs system. A similar approach successfully worked for the Union Pacific Railroad Company during the past 5 years and has contributed to the railroad's ability to maintain the lowest operating ratio among North American railroads. For the railroad industry, improvements are needed in the measures of effectiveness, predictability, and maintenance requirements of track, structure, and signal systems.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/conf/1993/cp2/cp2-005.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309055032
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Thompson, W C
• Conference:
  • Railroad Freight Transportation Research Needs
  • Location: Bethesda, Maryland
  • Date: 1994-7-12 to 1994-7-14
• Publication Date: 1994

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 43-53
• Monograph Title: RAILROAD FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH NEEDS. PROCEEDINGS OF A CONFERENCE, BETHESDA, MARYLAND, JULY 12-14, 1993
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 1073-1652

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Forecasting; Freight transportation; Infrastructure; Maintenance; Maintenance management; Measures of effectiveness; Needs assessment; Railroad facilities; Railroad signals; Railroad tracks; Railroads; Research
• Identifier Terms: Union Pacific Railroad
• Old TRIS Terms: Quality-costs system
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00662852
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309055032
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 15 1994 12:00AM