Technical Reports

Alternative Occupied Volume Integrity (OVI) Tests and Analyses

FRA, supported by the Volpe Center, conducted research on alternative methods of evaluating occupied volume integrity (OVI) in passenger railcars. Guided by this research, an alternative methodology for evaluating OVI that ensures an equivalent or greater level of safety than that provided by the...

Collision of Amtrak Passenger Train and Norfolk Southern Freight Train—November 30, 2007, Chicago, Illinois

On November 30, 2007, an Amtrak passenger train travelling at approximately 33 mph collided with the rear of a standing freight train in Chicago, Illinois. The locomotive of the passenger train overrode the rear car of the freight train and came to rest on top of the rear car. The rest of the cars...

Feasibility Study of Fiber-Optic Technology for Broken Rail Detection

This report describes the activities and presents the results of a feasibility study to examine the viability of using fiber-optic acoustic technologies to detect broken rails in railroad tracks. A fiber-optic test bed was constructed at Transportation Technology Center (TTC) that consisted of...