NOTICE: The information on this web site is provided for illustrative purposes only and represents research in progress. Display data may contain errors and omissions and is delayed by up to 15 seconds. Do not rely upon this information in situations where your safety may be at stake. Always observe all local warning signs and devices.
Introduction
Train operations cause thousands
of hours of vehicle delay nationwide each day and frequently disrupt emergency
vehicle operations and transit service in most urban areas. Recent changes in
railroad operations will only compound these problems. Mergers and consolidations
in the rail industry will result in more frequent and longer delays. Higher
speed trains operate in some of the nation’s most congested corridors. These
changes in railroad operations have a direct impact on traffic at grade crossings.
Operations and safety on a
surface street system can be significantly improved if transportation agencies
know when a train approaches a highway-rail intersection. With this information,
transportation agencies can control traffic to minimize delays by applying diversion
strategies. In addition, information about when and where trains block specific
crossings is valuable to those who depend on rapid response, such as commercial
delivery services and emergency vehicles.
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Transportation Management Centers such as the TransLink® TMC Laboratory provide central monitoring of rail activity and a means of disseminating information to other agencies. |
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Emergency Service Providers such as Fire, EMS and Police can benefit from current information when responding to calls for assistance. The College Station Fire Department is an active partner in the project. |
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Transit Operators can modify routing plans if early knowledge of blocked intersections is available. Texas A&M University Department of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services is interested in using rail information to better manage fleet routing during special events. |
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Local Traffic Control devices (traffic signals) receive a very basic indication that a train is approaching. More information can allow an automatic traffic signal controller to coordinate vehicular movements efficiently and safely. The College Station Traffic Department will soon be using video and rail information to monitor the operation of their traffic control systems along Wellborn Road. |
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Motorist Information Systems are evolving that can display a message on a variable message sign or even deliver the message directly to vehicles. |
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RailView provides the following information about trains within the Wellborn Corridor:
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with George Bush Drive in foreground |
Background
The TransLink® rail
monitoring project is located in the Wellborn Road Corridor, which is a north-south
arterial in College Station that bisects the Texas A&M University campus.
Corridor traffic volume ranges from 10 to 25 ADT and can be extremely heavy
due to its proximity to the university’s sports and recreational centers.
Adjacent to Wellborn Road lies the Union Pacific Railroad’s Fort Worth Subdivision
mainline. A passing siding is located at the northern end of the corridor.
The line accommodates 15 to 20 trains daily and connects Houston, Galveston
and the petrochemical gulf coast with Fort Worth and points north.
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with George Bush Drive in foreground |
Train types vary from long unit coal trains of approximately 7000 feet in
length to short aggregate and local trains. A unit train is composed of a
single type of railcar, hauling a single commodity, such as coal, to a single
customer. Locals are short trains whose task is to pickup and deliver cars
for area industries.
When Is Traffic Heaviest? – FootBall Games!
The highest roadway traffic volumes occur during Texas A&M University home football games. Congestion is so severe that a curfew is imposed on rail movements to insure vehicular and pedestrian safety along the route.
Limited Space Available for Vehicles While Waiting At Intersetion
The corridor contains
several problematic highway/rail intersections. These intersections have minimal
space for vehicles parked between the railroad tracks and the cross street.
This storage space is inclined and has heavy pedestrian activity. Many campus
shuttle bus routes must cross these tracks as well.
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Rationale
The objective of this deployment is to provide reliable real-time train information from sensors along the Wellborn Corridor and to serve as a data source for ongoing railroad-related Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) research. Current rail integration research is focused on providing early information on impending train arrival at the George Bush Drive highway/rail intersection. People who would receive this information are envisioned to be municipal and university emergency services operations, traffic management operations (especially those of the University), and corridor traffic signal controllers. The latter can use this information in new preemption strategies, such as with dynamic message signs to better alert motorists to roadway conditions. This technology is applicable to emerging in-vehicle messaging systems, such as those that utilize cellular phone data networks.
Field Work
The deployment area is currently concentrated between Rock Prairie Road and University Drive. In the early stages, mobile data collection trailers were used to gather train speed and direction information from various points along the corridor including the F. M. 2818 and George Bush Drive area. These mobile stations transmitted data by wireless modem to in-field computers. In turn, they routed the data by ethernet to centrally located servers for processing.
Sensors
The goal was to collect
and analyze train speed profiles in an effort to quantify average train movements
along the corridor. Preliminary analysis led to the selection of F. M. 2818
as the first permanent collection site. The equipment at F. M. 2818 provides
a speed profile of inbound trains with samples taken by radar twice every
second. A train at F. M. 2818 is approximately 3 minutes away from the main
corridor highway/rail intersection at George Bush Drive and Wellborn Road.
A motion and direction sensor is installed at George Bush to confirm by positive
indication that a train has arrived. Another speed and direction sensor is
mounted on a portable trailer. It is positioned as needed along the corridor
to augment permanent sites. The trailer allows potential new sites to be investigated
before a full deployment decision is made. Finally, a weather monitoring station
is located at the far north end of the corridor. Weather conditions are known
to be a large factor in the performance of certain sensor technologies.
The Texas Transportation Institute provides a website at which more information about current research is available.
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06/28/2000