Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Railroad Crossing'

The dissertation proposed an approach, named â Signal Optimization Under Rail Crossing sAfety cOnstraintsâ (SOURCAO), to the traffic signal control near a highway rail grade crossing (HRGC). SOURCAO targets two objectives: HRGC safety improvement (a high priority national transportation goal) and highway traffic delay reduction (a common desire for virtually all of us). Communication and data availability from ITS and the next generation train control are assumed available in SOURCAO. The first step in SOURCAO is to intelligently choose a proper preemption phase sequence to promote HRGC safety. An inference engine is designed in place of traditional traffic signal preemption calls to prevent the queue from backing onto HRGC. The potential hazard is dynamically examined as to whether any queuing vehicle stalls on railroad tracks. The inference engine chooses the appropriate phase sequence to eliminate the hazardous situation. The second step in SOURCAO is to find the optimized phase length. The optimization process uses the network traffic delay (close to the control delay) at the intersections within HRGC vicinities as an objective function. The delay function is approximated and represented by multilayer perceptron neural network (off-line). After the function was trained and obtained, an optimization algorithm named Successive Quadratic Programming (SQP) searches the length of phases (on-line) by minimizing the delay function. The inference engine and proposed delay model in optimization take the on-line surveillance detector data and HRGC closure information as input. By integrating artificial intelligence and optimization technologies, the independent simulation evaluation of SOURCAO by TSIS/CORSIM demonstrated that the objectives are reached. The average network delay for 20 runs of simulation evaluation is reduced over eight percent by a t-test while the safety of HRGC is promoted. The sensitivity tests demonstrate that SOURCAO works efficiently under light and heavy traffic conditions, as well as a wide range of HRGC closure times.
Ph. D.

In recent years there has been an increase in railway usage which led to reduced time for rail maintenance. Railway switches and crossings (S&C) are an important asset and they typically account for 30% of the total budget spent on maintenance. The first part of this work researches the feasibility of automatically inspecting S&Cs in accordance with Network Rail inspection requirements and the likely necessary advancements. Current S&C inspection requirements, as well as current and developing inspection solutions, were analysed and categorised. This revealed the required technological advances and likely changes that the railway will have to adopt. The second part of the work researches the weakness of conventional S&C profile inspection practices used in industry. The work identified the main reasons that can lead to poor traditional inspection of the S&C profile, developed a novel, automatic method to carry out the profile measurements which eliminated human error and identified possible improvements in the area of S&C profile inspection. During this research, an inspection trolley was prototyped, field trials were carried out, and good results were obtained.

Presented diploma thesis deals with problems connected with accidents at railroad crossings from the road and railway drivers´ perspectives. The theoretical part is particularly focused on the explanation of chosen regulations associated with railroad crossings, with their construction and technical design and also with ways and options of marking in connection with railroad crossing safety system. The paper mentions the most frequent causes why dangerous situations occur. These causes arise from the railway and road drivers´ personal experience, supplemented by statistics of accidents at railroad crossings for the previous periods. The practical part analyses the options for averting a collision on two particular railroad crossings. For this purpose, the railroad crossing secured by lights and the railroad crossing secured only by a warning cross were chosen. Here, with Virtual Crash programme support, the origin of the chosen crisis situations is simulated and later options of their averting are evaluated. Finally, proposals for increasing railroad crossings safety are formulated for both cases. The appendix consists of a list of legislative regulations dealing with railroad crossings, a driving record of the rail vehicle and its technical parameters and simulation programme´s outputs.

Point of this diploma thesis is analyzing of three railroad crossing controlled by institutions of South-Moravian region, which are chosen by author. For analysis were chosen problematic railroad crossing where happened in last five years traffic accidents with consequences of death. Next criterion of choosing was type of security device. Chosen railroads crossing are representing all types of normally used security devices. That is why was chose railroad crossing with only warning crosses, light security device and last one with light security device with barrier beam. Theoretical part aims on: Basic parameters, dividing, numbering, system of function and marking of railroad crossing. In practical part, there are used mathematical calculations for assessment of safety on chosen railroad crossing and for determination of possibilities of averting a collision of both participants. Corrective measures are made for each railroad crossing taking to account it’s financial conditions. For each railroad crossing is made polygon with help of program Virtual Crash 3.

The purpose of this thesis was to perform microsimulation analyses on intersections near Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings (HRGCs) to determine if controlling mean train speed and train speed variability would improve safety and reduce delays. This research focused on three specific areas. First, average vehicle delay was examined, and this delay was compared for seven specific train speed distributions, including existing conditions. Furthermore, each distribution was associated with train detectors that were placed at the distance the fastest train could travel during the given warning time. Second, pedestrian cutoffs were investigated. These cutoffs represented an occasion when the pedestrian phases were truncated or shortened due to railroad signal preemption. Finally, vehicle emissions were analyzed using a modal emissions model. A microscopic simulation model of the Wellborn Corridor in College Station, Texas was created using VISSIM. The model was run twenty times in each train speed distribution for each of three train lengths. Average vehicle delay was collected for three intersections, and delays were compared using the Pooled t-test with a 95% confidence interval. Comparisons were made between the distributions, and generally, distributions with higher mean train speeds were associated with lower average delay, and train length was not a significant factor. Unfortunately, pedestrian cutoffs were not specifically controlled in this project; therefore, no statistical conclusions can be made with respect to the pedestrian cutoff problem. However, example cases were devised to demonstrate how these cutoffs could be avoided. In addition, vehicle emissions were examined using the vehicle data from VISSIM as inputs for CMEM (Comprehensive Modal Emissions Model). For individual vehicles, as power (defined as the product of velocity and acceleration) increased, emissions increased. When comparing emissions from different train speed distributions, few significant differences were found. However, a scenario with no train was tested, and it was shown to have significantly higher emissions than three of the distributions with trains. Ultimately, this thesis shows that average vehicle delay and vehicle emissions could be lowered by specific train speed distributions. Also, work could be done to investigate the pedestrian cutoff problem.

Because the operational characteristics of signalized intersections near highway-railroad grade crossings (IHRGCs) are different from those of signalized intersections located elsewhere in the traffic system, standard operational strategies do not apply. This is because safe operation at IHRGCs takes precedence over all other objectives. Because the prime objective of the current preemption methods is to clear the crossing, secondary objectives such as safe pedestrian crossing time and minimized delay are given less consideration or ignored completely. Consequently, state-of-the-practice strategies may cause serious pedestrian safety and efficiency problems at IHRGCs. Therefore, there is a definite need for research on how to improve traffic signal preemption strategies. An important element of preemption strategy is detection of trains and prediction of arrival times. However, because of the limitations of current detection technologies, estimation algorithms, etc., there is a wide range in these warning times. In this dissertation, a new train-arrival prediction algorithm was developed using detection equipment located farther upstream from the HRGC. The state-of-the-art transition preemption strategy (TPS) was developed to ensure that as preemption is initiated by approaching trains, the signal display does not change in a manner that endangers either pedestrians or drivers. However, because it does not account for the variability of predicted train arrival times, there is still a possibility of failure. Therefore, a new transition preemption algorithm that is specifically designed to improve intersection performance while maintaining or improving the current level of safety is developed. This dissertation developed a preemption strategy (TPS3) that uses better train arrival time estimates to improve the safety and efficiency of IHRGCs. The approach was simulated on a test bed in College Station, Texas, and it was concluded that the new TPS improves the safety and operation of intersections near highway-railroad grade crossings.

The thesis deals with design of the tram power collecting route and the tram track of the route no. 3 in reconstruction area recently called “Zbrojovka Brno”. Connection to the present infrastructure is also considered. Housing, resting, administration sectors and tram stops are designed for easy availability in the new area. Because the railroad bounds the area on the East and will be extended in the future, joining the tram transport with integrated transport system in Židenice is possible. Design includes the new bridge across Svitava river and connection with surrounding areas. If we divide individual car transport (IAD) from the tram route, the trolley car transportation is designed in place IAD.

碩士
國立高雄大學
都市發展與建築研究所
98
The railroad system in Taiwan is often interlaced with its neighboring highway system where the railroad crossing takes shape. The train system has the absolute priority in right of way relative to general highway system based on its mechanical, physical properties and exclusive right of way, etc. Due to the uncertainty when the trains pass through, the signals at the railroad crossing couldn’t act in concert with the trains to assign the right of way and relieve the traffic congestion, which is a much more serious problem in the metropolis. This research targets the double-cruciform railroad crossing at Tsuihua Rd. in Kaohsiung City, takes the geometric properties and traffic characteristics into consideration, and then with the design of exclusive phase for railroad pushing button signal, this research sets up an optimal integration design model for signal timing plan of railroad crossing in order to solve the problem of signal operation at intersection while the trains pass through, reduce the intersection delay, improve the performance of relieving traffic at intersection, and further solve the traffic bottleneck, carry out the goal of intersection delay minimization and traffic conflict minimization. This research puts focus on double-cruciform railroad crossings, selects the intersections of Tsuihua Rd., Shitzang Rd., Makatto Rd. and Meishuguan Rd. in Kaohsiung City as studying sites for simulation and verification, with the references of literature on traffic flow theory, method, principle and performance evaluation of signal timing plan, to understand and analyze the correlation of variables and parameters for timing plan, and further to realize the goal of intersection delay minimization, traffic conflict minimization, and to design one optimal integration model for signal timing at double-cruciform railroad crossings. Also, this research collects the geometric properties and traffic characteristics to implement the simulation and verification with VISSIM, a microscopic traffic simulation software. While the trains pass through the double-cruciform railroad crossings, the original traffic and signal operation will be stopped, and also the traffic turning from the crossings couldn’t keep on going, which results in complicated traffic streamline at double-cruciform railroad crossings and the difficulty in designing integrated signal timing. Through the steps of (1) collecting and analyzing geometric properties and traffic characteristics, (2) signal phase selection module, (3) signal timing design module, (4) assumption of system condition, (5) simulation and verification, (6) performance evaluation module, (7) bringing out the optimal integrated signal timing project, this research sets up the procedure of whole integrated design, also after the simulation and verification, establishes the optimal integrated signal timing design at double-cruciform railroad crossing to carry out the goal of intersection delay minimization, traffic conflict minimization, solve the problem of signal operation at intersection while the trains pass through, reduce the intersection delay, improve the performance of relieving traffic at intersection, and further solve the traffic bottleneck, serve as a reference for the traffic engineers to plan signal timing at railroad crossings.

This study defines the information gathering and communication and response needed for safety at highway-rail crossings. It examines technologies for low-cost, high-safety treatments for low volume highway crossings of higher speed (130-200 kph) rail. Crossing closure and consolidation is a necessary first step. Existing train control and crossing safety systems are examined. Intelligent Transportation System technologies are examined for applicability to the information gathering, communicating, and control functions of grade crossing safety. Guidelines are offered for low volume crossings of the high speed rail line in Oregon. A preliminary cost benefit analysis is presented. Above 200kph, crossing closure or grade separation is required. In the range of 130-200 kph, ITS technologies have the potential to enhance crossing safety at much lower cost than grade separation. A global positioning system based positive train control system provides the train location and speed information needed for advanced crossing control. A traffic management center can receive train and crossing information, operate crossing systems, and grant clearance for train or highway users through the crossing. Remote lock gates provide safety at private crossings. Increased traveler information and four quadrant warning gates increase motorist compliance at public crossings. At train speeds above 175 kph, barrier gates protect rail movements. Video monitoring and detection systems provide reliable, redundant information should a vehicle become trapped in a crossing.
Graduation date: 1996

For over a decade proposals for connecting the metropolitan areas of Austin and San Antonio, Texas via passenger rail have been studied. In the Texas Department of Transportation’s 2010 Rail Plan several ideas, including high-speed rail, regional Amtrak service, and a new passenger rail service have been proposed as a means to provide an alternate mode of transportation along the I-35 corridor. Union Pacific Railroad currently owns and operations a rail line that connects the Austin and San Antonio metropolitan areas; each of the passenger rail projects proposes sharing this corridor with Union Pacific. A literature review reveals that a key factor in negotiating with a freight railroad for shared use of a corridor is safety. One element of the safety risk analysis is the evaluation of at-grade highway-railroad crossing. This study discusses the Austin-San Antonio corridor, its current mobility challenges and the proposed passenger rail projects. It then discusses rail safety as expressed in the literature and provides background about safety at highway-railroad crossings. Crossing inventory and accident data, as maintained by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), is then analyzed using regression modeling in an attempt to better understand the relationship between the physical and operational characteristics of highway-railroad crossings and accidents on corridors shared by freight and passenger rail. It analyzes a five-year accident history (2005 to 2009) from of a sample of shared use highway-rail crossings throughout the US. The findings are then used to analyze the at-grade highway-railroad crossings along the Austin-San Antonio corridor. And finally, the implications of the findings are discussed. The findings of this report recommend that characteristics of the built environment such as land use, number of traffic lanes, and function classification of the roadway should be considered when assessing accident risk at highway-railroad crossings. In addition, this analysis reveals the need for a way to better measure safety risks at private highway-railroad crossings.
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The last quarter of the nineteenth century is often referred to as the “Golden Age” of railroad building. More track was laid in this period in North America than in any other period. The building of railroads was considered synonymous with nation building and economic progress. Railway workers were the single largest occupational group in the period and among the first workers to be employed by large-scale, corporately owned and bureaucratically managed organizations. While there is a rich historiography regarding the institutional and everyday lives of railway workers and the corporations that employed them, the unit of analysis has been primarily bounded by the nation. These national narratives leave out the north-south connections created by railroads that cut across geo-political boundaries and thus dramatically increasing the flows of people, goods and services between nations on the North American continent. Does the story change if viewed from a continental rather than national perspective? Railroad Crossings tells the story of the people and places along the route of the Grand Trunk Railroad of Canada between Montreal, Quebec and Portland, Maine and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (and later of the Southern Pacific) between Benson, Arizona and Guaymas, Sonora. The study first takes a comparative view of the cross-border railroad development followed by a consideration of emerging patterns and practices that suggest a broader continental continuity. The evidence demonstrates that this broader continental continuity flows from the application of a certain “railroad logic” or the impact of the essence of railroad operations that for reasons of safety and efficiency required the broad standardization of operating procedures that in many ways rendered place irrelevant.

碩士
國立成功大學
交通管理學系碩博士班
101
Although traffic collisions at highway-railroad grade crossing (HRGXs) are rare incidents, they might incur significant number of casualties and different degrees of property losses. This research investigates the factors that have effects on the occurrence of the traffic collisions at HRGXs. This research applies classification and regression tree (CART), a two-stage classification and regression approach, to identify the key factors that are responsible for traffic collisions at HRGXs to resolve some the theoretical problems associated with the traditional one-stage count data statistical models. For risk management, this research also constructs a risk matrix of the HRGXs. Using the HRGX crash and grade crossing inventory data provided by Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) during 2008~2010 in Taiwan, the empirical study aims to provide the rail agency with reference about how to assess the priority for a safety improvement program.