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            On-Board Broken Rail Detection (OBRD) Research and Development
      

      
  Document Series
              Research Results


      
  Author
          Federal Railroad Administration


      
Report Number
              RR 22-16

  Office
              RDI-23


      Subject
                    Train Control


      
  Keywords
              Alternative Broken Rail and Rollout Detection, ABRRD, full-moving block, FMB, Head-of-Train-Alternative Broken Rail Detection, HOT-ABRD, Onboard Broken Rail Detection, OBRD, Positive Train Control, PTC, train control


      

      
      
              
                  
      
              
  Document
              OBRD R and D.pdf (394.99 KB)

      
              From October 2019 to May 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sponsored a research and development project, performed by Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), to research the feasibility of an Onboard Broken Rail Detection (OBRD) concept at the Transportation Technology Center. The research team collaborated with a rail industry stakeholder technical advisory group (TAG) to research the OBRD system concept. The overall objective of this research project is to validate a usable concept for an OBRD system. Finding an onboard solution is important because it could contribute to the implementation of moving block train control, which could potentially improve railroad capacity to near the theoretical maximum limit. This solution could also reduce the life cycle cost of broken rail and occupancy detection.
      
            
      
      
              Last updated: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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