Railroad Operations and Alignment Design Support

We provided specialized railroad technical support to a larger planning and engineering team that was performing an environmental impact and alternatives analysis on behalf of a state department of transportation that is contemplating several options for redeveloping a rail corridor for mixed commuter, intercity rail, and freight transportation use.  Specifically, we laid out new alignment options at a conceptual engineering level to minimize property takings by re-using existing corridors.  The new alignments we identified connected two parallel corridors at strategic locations to enable integrated service plans, to allow freight traffic to be routed onto a by-pass away from urban centres and reduce grade crossing risks.  We also developed operating plans to show that overhead freight traffic can be routed through the area without delay while offering a robust schedule for commuter and intercity services operated under various growth scenarios.  At this time, the project has been constructed, although with a substantially different form of governance and service plan than what we envisioned.

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