TURNOUT PERFORMANCE IN HAL SERVICE AT FAST IMPROVES IN THE 1990S

A comparison of the performance of No. 20 turnouts in a 40 mph heavy- axle-load experiment shows an improvement in turnout design and performance. Studies conducted by the Transportation Technology Center, Inc., a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads, show a 50 percent reduction in required maintenance hours at the Federal Railroad Administration's Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). Improvements can be attributed to technological innovations in the late 1980s and 1990s that have allowed for the reduction in required maintenance for No. 20 turnouts under HAL traffic. The article looks at the performance of FAST turnout, frogs, and switches. It also presents a brief economic analysis of FAST, and looks at the effect of diverging traffic.