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HOW R&D IS SHAPING THE 21ST CENTURY RAILROAD

Jack Burke

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Abstract

An industry shaped by the 19th Century and heavy with assets whose useful lives run to half centuries can be expected to approach the technologies of the new millennium with caution. With a.c. traction locomotives now widely in use, the two new technologies at the frontier of railroad research and development are electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP) and positive train separation - and its cousin, positive train control (PTS/PTC). ECP and PTS/PTC appear to be the two technologies most likely to propel railroad productivity gains in the next century. This article looks at those and some other technological innovations suitable for railroads.

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What this paper is about

An industry shaped by the 19th Century and heavy with assets whose useful lives run to half centuries can be expected to approach the technologies of the new millennium with caution. With a.c. traction locomotives now widely in use, the two new technologies at the frontier of railroad research and development are electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP) and positive train separation - and its cousin, positive train control (PTS/PTC). ECP and PTS/PTC appear to be the two technologies most likely to propel railroad productivity gains in the next century. This article looks at those and some other technological innovations suitable for railroads.

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Available abstract

An industry shaped by the 19th Century and heavy with assets whose useful lives run to half centuries can be expected to approach the technologies of the new millennium with caution. With a.c. traction locomotives now widely in use, the two new technologies at the frontier of railroad research and development are electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP) and positive train separation - and its cousin, positive train control (PTS/PTC). ECP and PTS/PTC appear to be the two technologies most likely to propel railroad productivity gains in the next century. This article looks at those and some other technological innovations suitable for railroads.

Key concepts: Frontier, Productivity, Engineering, Emerging technologies, Cousin, Technology development, Economics, Economic growth

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