Shared Use of Railroad Infrastructure: Practical Field Research

For a national transit research program, we were responsible for researching and writing a report on the shared use of railroad infrastructure by non-compliant light rail vehicles.  At that time, the use of Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) waivers for operating light rail cars on general system of railroads was in its nascent years, and the concept of temporal or spatial separation was still in development.  As part of this project, we visited a number of properties that have existing waivers.  Through interviews with stakeholders, technical specialists, and transit managers, we determined the essential elements and conditions that allowed the system to operate safely and likely receive FRA waiver approval.  We identified suitable train control technologies, their performance, costs, and operational impacts.  We also determined common procedural and regulatory approaches, and methods for costsharing, staffing, and emergency recovery.

Related Publications/Presentations:

• Shared Use of Railroad Infrastructure with Noncompliant Public Transit Rail Vehicles: A Practitioner’s Guide
• Business Model for Commingled Operations of Freight and Non-FRA-Compliant Passenger Rail Services

Note: Alex Lu performed this work as an employee of another firm.