Preventing Turnout Failures through Advanced Analytics and Real-Time Monitoring
The growing demand for freight and passenger rail transport is putting immense pressure on network availability and reliability. Turnout failures, which account for about 20–30% of all rail infrastructure delays, significantly impact on-time performance. Current labor-intensive and periodic inspection methods lack the granularity and real-time insights needed to track asset degradation under traffic, often resulting in unanticipated failures and reduced network availability. A proactive approach is therefore essential to detect early warning signs, prioritize maintenance, and prevent service-disrupting failures which could potentially impact safe running of the railroad. This Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) project proposes to evaluate a new IIoT sensor system to determine turnout conditions through continuous remote monitoring. The goal is to validate whether such a system is deployable in the US railroad network across transit, passenger, and Class One networks. The system comprises IIoT sensors with accelerometers installed on ties at the frog or the switch to measure vibrations caused by the passing train. The level of vibrations, provided as vertical acceleration, is a strong indicator of degradation and is used as the base measurement to provide insights into asset conditions. Tests in Europe have provided further insights into understanding the extent of impact of acceleration on assets. Collaborations with railroad companies, Norfolk Southern and CSX, have been established to evaluate the developed system on shared mainline turnouts. Union Pacific and METRA, the commuter rail system in the Chicago Metropolitan area, have also expressed interest in participation.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $100,000.00
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Contract Numbers:
IDEA-60
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Sponsor Organizations:
Federal Railroad Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Project Managers:
Jawed, Inam
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Performing Organizations:
FS Tool, LLC
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Principal Investigators:
Bartek, Peter
- Start Date: 20260506
- Expected Completion Date: 20270506
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: Rail Safety IDEA Program
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Degradation failures; Maintenance of way; Railroad switches; Railroad tracks; Remote sensing; Sensors; Vibration
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 02001761
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
- Contract Numbers: IDEA-60
- Files: TRB, RIP
- Created Date: Sep 4 2026 8:28AM