FRAs Transportation Technology Center Reaches 50th Anniversary.pdf

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FRA's Transportation Technology Center Reaches 50th Anniversary by Diana Bolton, RAD May 19, 2021

The U.S. Department of Transportation is celebrating 50 years of rail safety research and innovation at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC), FRA’s 33,000-acre research, testing, and training facility near Pueblo, Colorado. U.S. Secretary of Transportation John Volpe inaugurated the site on May 19, 1971, originally authorized by the High Speed Ground Transportation (HSGT) Act of 1965.

Laying the Foundation for the TTC

The mid-1960s were a critical period of change for American transportation. The birth of high-speed rail in the United States can be traced to the HSGT Act, which was introduced after the creation of Japan’s state-of-the-art high-speed “bullet trains.” Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his Great Society infrastructure building initiatives, the bill created the O�ce of High Speed Ground Transportation in the Department of Commerce.

Upon signing the bill, President Johnson remarked on the notable lack of mass rail transportation required to enable Americans to travel quickly, safely, and e�ciently. “In recent decades, we have achieved technological miracles in our transportation. But there is one great exception,” Johnson noted. “We have airplanes which �y three times faster than sound. We have television cameras that are orbiting Mars.

But we have the same tired and inadequate mass transportation between our towns and cities that we had 30 years ago.”

The DOT had just begun o�cial operations in 1967, integrating more than 30 transportation-related entities into a single department. It was a new era in American transportation and an exciting time to pursue new research and development opportunities in rail. The video below shows highlights of the TTC’s history.

Test Tracks Enable Advancements in Rail Safety, Materials, Operations, and Engineering

From its inception, the TTC has played a pivotal role in innovative research, testing, and development of rail technologies. As rail technologies have evolved, the TTC has added new test tracks to continue critical research into the performance of locomotives, vehicles, track components, and signaling devices. The tracks are designed for various purposes; some are state-of-the-art high-speed tracks with the latest engineering, while some intentionally incorporate �aws and irregularities to simulate possible real-world conditions.

TTC HistoryTTC History

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Contractor-Government Relationship at the TTC

While the FRA initially operated the property fully and independently, TTC operations have evolved to include a contractor. This contractor-government relationship enables FRA personnel to oversee numerous complex projects and research studies concurrently, with contractor personnel providing deliverables—such as technical reports, conference presentations, or research �ndings—for government review and acceptance. For example, a tank car test is a complex operation requiring tank cars, puncture components, impact walls, simulation liquid, cameras, simulation modeling, and other equipment. The FRA program manager leverages the resources of the contractor to set up and conduct the test without requiring federal government-owned technology and equipment.

A Track Record of Safety Innovation

Luis Maal, TTC On-Site Resident Engineer and Program Manager, proudly re�ects on the achievements over the past few decades to advance safety in freight rail, passenger rail, and inter-city transit rail. “Since the 1970s, the TTC has been right in the middle of so many major advancements to keep our rail infrastructure and the people who use it safer every year,” he said. “Today, we are more focused than ever on protecting our investments, maintaining our infrastructure, promoting the highest standards in inspections and maintenance, and ensuring that we’re on the forefront of new research.”

The TTC has been instrumental in large and small projects in the rail industry.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the TTC served a pivotal role in researching new technologies to move freight and passengers safely. The original Metro train cars for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority were commissioned at the TTC, and the Center also supported testing of the train cars for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. The 52 full-time federal employees at the TTC were essential in the big boom of activity related to rail, especially passenger rail systems. The TTC was instrumental in testing new safety innovations for rolling stock, including rails, wheels, problem-detection systems, and other equipment.

In the 1990s, projects at the TTC pioneered many advantages in passenger rail safety, such as cross-energy management to dissipate energy safely in the event of an accident. Luis notes, “You know how the frames of modern automobiles are built to crunch around people? Old cars didn’t do that and would just crush the riders. Well, the TTC pioneered that energy-dissipation model for passenger rail and made rail travel much safer for the riders in the event of an accident.” In the late 1990s, the TTC was instrumental in testing Amtrak’s very �rst Acela trainset. In the last year, the second-generation Acela trainset was tested in the TTC’s PTC test bed.

In the mid-1990s, major innovations were made to support the development of the Trackside Acoustic Detection System (TADS). TADS is designed to monitor roller bearings and identify internal defects prior to overheating and causing costly train stops or component failure. In simple terms, the TTC helped develop and test technology that detects problems in bearings and wheels in each individual car as the train rolls through an inspection station. These technologies help conductors identify issues before they happen so the conductor can act. Read more about TADS here.

(https://apnatech.com/acoustic-bearing-detector/)

Very recently, the TTC played a critical role in the implementation of positive train control (PTC). This technology, which has been successfully implemented on trains across the country, helps conductors avoid human error and save lives through automation. Unlike a human, the PTC system does not get tired or distracted, and it can alert the conductor if a train is going too fast and the conductor does not promptly take appropriate action. If the conductor does not respond, the PTC system can slow the train, helping to avoid an accident. Read more about PTC here. (https://railroads.dot.gov/train-control/ptc/positive-train-control-ptc)

Training Inspectors and Emergency Responders for Real-World Safety Scenarios

Today, the TTC is more than an R&D facility, o�ering cutting-edge instruction, training, and education in both rail safety inspections and emergency response.

https://apnatech.com/acoustic-bearing-detector/ https://railroads.dot.gov/train-control/ptc/positive-train-control-ptc

Since 1985, the TTC contractor has o�ered on-site training through the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC), which trains private and public sector emergency responders, including hazardous materials (hazmat) training. This program is known today as the “graduate school” of hazmat response and has trained over 70,000 responders since its inception.

SERTC is the only training center of its kind in the world. No other training facility possesses the infrastructure necessary to deliver realistic emergency response intervention training in a rail environment. With 74 railway freight cars, 4 simulated derailment settings, 15 passenger cars, 25 highway cargo tanks, van trailers, and intermodal containers, students at SERTC have unlimited access to the valves, �ttings, and containers commonly encountered in surface transportation emergency response. All SERTC class o�erings are structured to ensure that at least 50% of the student’s time is spent in a hands-on environment, instead of in a classroom.

More recently, in 2016, the FRA Technical Training and Standards Division (TTSD) set up a permanent presence at the TTC to support hands-on training. FRA inspectors are trained in all technical aspects of inspections and compliance in six di�erent disciplines: grade crossing, hazardous materials, motive power and equipment (MP&E), operating practices (OP), signal and train control, and track. The FRA conducted a three-year study of training needs for rail safety inspectors and surveyed inspectors in every discipline. This analysis was used to create a comprehensive training program.

In addition to virtual training and classroom instruction, inspectors-in-training receive hands-on training in the �eld using real equipment.

The robust TTSD training program at the TTC was developed with the needs of the students, and the location of the best equipment, in mind. For example, to learn compliance with 49 CFR 238, Passenger Equipment Safety Standards, students practice on passenger trains on-site at the TTC.

Thomas Woodhams, Instructional Systems Specialist, notes that the training program is comprehensive. “Inspectors who have just joined the FRA will have on-the-job training where they shadow a certi�ed inspector. The inspectors also concurrently take two training courses: general fundamentals, which covers skills common to all disciplines, and discipline fundamentals, which teaches skills speci�c to the student’s discipline. After the student completes all three components of training, they are a certi�ed inspector.”

One example of the hands-on training, Woodhams explained, is the opportunity to use the MP&E lab while taking the MP&E Fundamentals class. “In that class, MP&E inspectors-in-training explore a complete trainset with approximately 70 defects. The �nal exam requires a full inspection of the trainline culminating in a report, which identi�es all defects, documents them with photos, and provides precise measurements and notes.”

Woodhams says it’s a great way to learn how to do every element of a MP&E inspection and remarked, “The TTC is like a huge playground for hands-on learning.”

Another scenario presented to students to test their problem-solving skills is a simulated grade crossing collision.

Woodhams described the lengths that the

TTC took to expose students to a realistic situation. “We placed a van on the tracks and hit it with a locomotive to stage an incredibly accurate grade-crossing collision,” he said. “The students are organized into teams with one student from each discipline; each team investigates the accident as if it is 100% real using actual sterilized documents from a grade-crossing collision. We even have a team of role players posing as witnesses, reporters, and the train crew. It’s intense! They navigate dealing with reporters, questioning witnesses, documenting the scene, and writing their �ndings. At the end of the week, the teams present their accident investigations.”

Forthcoming Projects Will Continue TTC Legacy of Innovations

Maryam Allahyar, Director of Research and Development, says that a visitor’s �rst time touring the TTC is usually a shock. “It’s this cutting-edge place with amazing projects, but it’s out in the middle of the Colorado desert. It’s like, what are we doing here?” she laughs. “But then they get to see all of the amazing technology, research, and studies that come out of the Center, and you just see people ‘get it.’ It’s a special place.”

Maryam notes that the TTC has functions that are not done anywhere else in the world. Some TTC tools are literally one of a kind, and researchers from other countries enlist TTC expertise and technology to conduct research. One example is the variable gauge system for Japanese trains that use both standard-gauge (Shinkansen) and narrow-gauge (conventional) operation. Critical high-speed endurance tests were conducted at the TTC to enable this technology. Read more about variable gauge here. (https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/UT04/UT04051FU.pdf)

The new projects planned at the TTC are diverse, including rail �aw imaging technology, non-contact rail inspection, hybrid locomotive waste heat recovery systems, research into alternative fuels for rail applications, next-generation brake technology for rolling stock, a new section of track with an elevated curve (unique to the TTC), hazmat impact tests, next-generation PTC tests, and much more. For more information about the latest FRA research, check out this presentation with more information about current R&D projects (https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/fra-o�ce-research-development-and-technology-current-projects-2021), many of which are based at the TTC.

It’s been an exciting 50 years, and we look forward to the next 50 years. Stay tuned for more information as the FRA recognizes this historic milestone. Read more about this important date in FRA history in the news release posted to the FRA Newsroom (https://railroads.dot.gov/newsroom/press-releases/fra-celebrates-transportation-technology-centers-50th-anniversary).

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