Moving from Exception- to Performance-based
Track Geometry Monitoring Systems
by Bob Tuzik • July 30, 2004
Track geometry data has long
been used as a maintenance-planning tool.
As the technology has advanced, the data has become more useful,
not only as
a means
to find exceptions, but also to drive maintenance and capital plans. New technology
is enabling the Federal Railroad Administration, which tests track geometry
conditions on railroads across the U.S., and individual railroads such as Union
Pacific move beyond exception-based to performance-based monitoring of track
conditions and vehicle/track interaction.
 The FRA has been collecting track geometry data with a number of vehicles over
the past 30 years. Between September 1998, when the Track Safety Standards
were changed, and April 2004, the FRA inspected about 140,000 miles of track
and identified nearly 55,000 exceptions—about 2.5 exceptions per mile.
With its Automated Track Inspection Program (ATIP), the FRA aims to move
beyond simply ensuring compliance with the federal Track Safety Standards to
providing good, quantitative data that can help railroads understand and improve
track overall conditions.
"The inspection effort is not beneficial, no matter how refined or accurate
the measurement system, if exceptions cannot be located," FRA Railroad
Safety Specialist Arthur Clouse told attendees at Advanced Rail Management/Interface
Journal's annual Rail/Wheel Interface Seminar. As a result,
ATIP is gradually moving away from the old paint-marking system toward the
use of Differential
Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) to "tag" exceptions or location
events, such as grade crossings or turnouts, with latitude and longitude coordinates.
From there, exceptions are placed on a Geographic Information System (GIS)
map of the U.S. rail network.
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