Metrolink’s Use of Automated Monitoring Systems to Reduce Stress at the Wheel-Rail Interface

With increased demands of rail transport, the challenge of finding and fixing poor track conditions before they can cause further damage to vehicles or risk to passengers is becoming more difficult every day. Railroads across the country are turning to new technologies to meet this need. New technologies that enable poor track conditions to be detected from revenue-service vehicles and sent to the Maintenance of Way (MoW) managers or passenger rail operations managers, telling them exactly where defects are located and even rank their severity. Vehicle/Track Interaction Remote Monitoring Systems, or V/TI Systems, as they are called, began as a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) research and development project and evolved into a joint research and development partnership between ENSCO, Incorporated, the FRA and Amtrak more than 10 years ago. These systems use an array of sensors to accurately measure the dynamic response between a rail-vehicle and the track, pinpoint an event’s location with GPS and report the event in real-time using cellular communication and the Internet. Reports are available through a Web-based system with interactive maps, measurement graphs, track-charts and reports. Additionally, automated email notifications of safety risks can be sent directly to the field or existing work-order management systems. The V/TI technology is widely used among North American freight railroads and is being increasingly employed in the transit community. Each railroad has established processes for addressing the detected maintenance and safety issues. In 2008, Metrolink installed five V/TI systems into their locomotive fleet. This paper presents an overview of the technology and the processes put in place by Metrolink for effective use of the information being detected by these unattended monitoring systems.

• Corporate Authors:

  American Public Transportation Association

  1666 K Street, NW, Suite 1100
  Washington, DC  United States  20006
• Authors:
  • Walker, Richard
  • Stevens, Jeff
  • Brown, Will
  • Maldony, Michael
• Conference:
  • 2009 American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Rail Conference
  • Location: Chicago IL, United States
  • Date: 2009-6-14 to 2009-6-17
• Publication Date: 2009

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 10p
• Monograph Title: Rail Conference 2009 Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automation; Global Positioning System; Maintenance of way; Monitoring; Railroad tracks; Railroad transportation; Rolling contact; Stresses; Technological innovations
• Identifier Terms: Metrolink (Los Angeles Metropolitan Area)
• Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01156987
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 24 2010 2:08PM