Transportation Research Board: National Academy of Sciences


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Upcoming Conferences

Four upcoming conferences are of interest to the members and friends of the Passenger Rail Equipment and Systems Integration Committee.

SCORT Annual Meeting
September 11 -14, 2011  Charlotte NC

2012 TRB 91st Annual Meeting 
January 22-28 2012 Washington DC

2012 Joint Rail Conference
April 17-19, 2012  Philadelphia PA



Click on the names of the conferences for more information

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Cuban Rail Caucus In Planning

Mark Walbrun reports
Following discussions at the TRB meetings in Boston, AREMA has agreed to sponsor the railroad technology tour of Cuba. The time period selected is Dec 8 – 14 (it will not be quite that long but we are blocking out time to allow for minor adjustments in the itinerary). Some of the committee chairs had asked to have plans finalized within two weeks of our meeting to allow for coordinating committee meeting plans with the time period of the trip to avoid conflicts.

Further details will be available shortly.

Joint Rail Conference: Technology to Advance the Future of Rail Transport


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Temple University | April 17-19, 2012

The conference will cover a broad range of railroad subjects, including:
·   Railroad Infrastructure Engineering
·   Rail Equipment Engineering
·   Signal and Train Control Engineering
·   Planning and Development
·   Safety and Security
·   Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
·   Urban Passenger Rail Transport
The objective of this conference is to promote the dissemination of information and discussion of technological advances, operational and engineering issues and other matters relevant to the railroad industry.  This is a recurring annual event, which TRB co-sponsored in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Expected Attendees: 300 - open to all

Anticipated Products: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) will provide a CD of papers and other presentation materials to registrants (available for purchase by others). ASME will hold the copyright to the materials.

Sponsors
·         Transportation Research Board
·         American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
·         The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
·         The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
·         American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA)
·         American Public Transportation Association (APTA)
·          TRB Committees:           
o        Passenger Rail Equipment and Systems Integration (AR020)
o        Intercity Passenger Rail (AR010)
o        Railroad Operating Technologies (AR030)
o        Freight Rail Transportation (AR040)

TRB Role: Robert Dorer (member of the TRB Rail Group Executive Board and Standing Committee on Passenger Rail Equipment and Systems Integration) will serve on the conference organizing and planning committee. Members of sponsoring committees will actively contribute to the technical program of the conference, in particular, the Safety and Security track, and will participate in the program development. Staff will serve on the publicity committee.   TRB will be asked to post notice of this symposium on the TRB website and to allow the conference to use the TRB logo on its promotional material.

Note that consideration may be given to altering TRB’s role in future Joint Rail Conferences so as to enhance the benefits derived from its efforts.

TRB Staff: Ann Purdue |  202) 334-3208  | APurdue@nas.edu

Click here for more information

Mid Year Meeting Agenda - July 14 2011

Transportation Research Board
COMMITTEE AR020
PASSENGER RAIL EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Mid-Year Meeting
July 14, 2011 1:30pm–3:00pm
Call-in telephone number: 1 (866) 528-2256 access code 3343208 #

DRAFT AGENDA

1. Welcome – Patrick B. Simmons, Chair

2. Introductions of Members—All

3. Old Business
            (a) Review of Membership Survey—PBS

4. New Business
            (a) TRB Annual Meeting January 22-26, 2012—Planning—Michael Trosino, 
                    Katherine Hunter-Zaworski,  Alan Ware, Aida Asuncion, Katherine Stanchak
(i)                 NEPA Workshop Co-Sponsorship—Lee Hutchins
(ii)               Sessions--All
(iii)             Paper Review/s-- Katherine Hunter-Zaworski
(iv)              Research Statement Needs—Rodney Massman, Katherine Hunter-Zaworski, Katherine Stanchak, Manuel Galdo, Aida Asuncion

(b) Communications—Alan Ware, Steve Hewett, Ing. Flilippo Martinelli, Manuel Galdo, John Boffa, Katherine Stanchak
           
(c) Joint Rail Conference 2012 Co-sponsorship—Robert Dorer

5. Concluding Remarks –All

See http://www.trb.org/CommitteeandPanels/Public/OnlineDirectory.aspx#DetailsType=Committee&ID=1468 for the AR020 Passenger Rail Equipment and Systems Integration Committee Directory

See http://www.highspeed-rail.org/ for an update on the Next Generation High Speed Rail Equipment Committee

Patrick B. Simmons, Director, NCDOT Rail Division pbsimmons@ncdot.gov (919) 733-7245 extension 263

Annual Meeting Minutes (January 25, 2011)

January 25, 2011;  3:45pm–5:30pm (Marriott)
Welcome
Introductions of Members, Friends, and Visitors
Old Business
New Business

Membership Rotation
·         Planning for mid-year meeting
·         Committee web site and communications
·         Research needs statements
·         Presentations
o    “A Simplified Approach for Assessing Initial Fire Development and Spread in Passenger Rail Vehicles”;  Brian J. Meacham and Nicholas A. Dempsey (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), and Matthew Johann, Jeffrey Tubbs and Kurt Schebel (ARUP)

o    “Hierarchical Network Model of Safe High-Speed Railway Operation”;  Yanhui Wang, Xuemei  Xiao, Limin Jia, and Chenchen Zhang (Beijing Jiaotong University
 
Click Here for Complete Meeting Minutes