Interface - The Journal of Wheel/Rail Interaction

OPTIMIZATION

Monitoring Vehicle/Track Interaction on Amtrak's NEC
September 30, 2004

Wayside and on-board measuring systems in place on railroads today produce a wealth of information. "The good news is that we have a lot of data," Michael Trosino, Amtrak's Senior Director of Clearances, Inspections and Tests, told attendees at Advanced Rail Management / Interface Journal's Rail/Wheel Interface Seminar. "The bad news is that we have a lot of data."

With a number of wayside and on-board detection systems in place on its 450-mile Northeast Corridor (NEC), which handles a mix of high-speed passenger, commuter and mixed freight, Amtrak needed a way to condense the data into useful information. To do so, Amtrak developed a Sharable, Expandable Database (SED) from standardized database components that can be relationally linked.

A geographically correct inventory of infrastructure assets, which includes track and structures, forms the foundation of the database. Signaling and the overhead-wire electric traction systems, along with the maintenance activities performed on them, are also being incorporated. The ability to track costs, including materials and labor, will also be added to the database. The final component will be the ability to track operating parameters.

"We developed the database to keep track of the vehicles that operate over the track, the routes on which they operate and loads that they impart on the infrastructure," Trosino said.

The database has been developed as a decision-support system that compiles information that will allow for better, more-informed decision making. "We don't want to supplant the experience of the employees—the decision makers on the railroad," he said. "We want to add to it."

Each discipline shares standardized database components and can generate specific reports and queries. The database provides a graphical depiction of the railroad with GPS coordinates that are accurate to within one foot. Track condition measurements, such as surface profile, rail wear and maintenance exceptions reported by the geometry car, can be added to the view. Production work and the cost of the work can show the cost of maintaining a specific section of track.

"This allows us to see where the money has been spent and the relationship between the work that has been done and the condition of the track."

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