Track Upgrades to Support High Speed Rail
Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in 2009, the Federal government has made available more than $10 billion to promote U.S. High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) service. In support of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), rail engineers from the Structures and Dynamics Division of the Physical Infrastructure Systems Center of Innovation have been developing and utilizing state-of-the-art inspection equipment to assure that the existing rail infrastructure owned by Amtrak, various state authorities and the freight railways can accommodate the sometimes different physical standards required by high speed passenger service as compared with freight service.
Center engineers Ted Sussmann and John Choros recently met with officials of Pan Am Railways to discuss the results of a test of the characteristics of the company's track between Portland and Brunswick, ME as part of a proposal to extend Amtrak's "Downeaster" passenger service from Boston, MA along the Maine coast. This test, using the gage restraint measurement system the Center developed for the FRA, was the first evaluation of its type on an existing rail track being considered for HSIPR service. Lack of reliable physical data on existing track is commonly encountered in the HSIPR program. The track condition measurements from the Pan Am study are being used to determine any necessary physical upgrades the existing track may require to accommodate HSIPR service. FRA plans to augment this process with other recently-developed systems, such as ground penetrating radars and vertical track deflection measurements. The next evaluation, of Amtrak's Vermonter line, is planned for 2011. FRA hopes these results will become the basis for measuring existing track for future high speed extensions, thus saving money by taking advantage of the nation's existing track inventory where possible.
As part of the HSIPR program, the Volpe Center also provides technical oversight to the FRA for physical improvement projects, meets with foreign rail delegations to share information on high speed passenger rail, and assists FRA in reviewing ARRA grant proposals.
