TCRP report 155 provides guidelines and descriptions for the design of various common types of light rail transit (LRT) track. The track structure types include ballasted track, direct fixation ("ballastless") track, and embedded track. The report considers the characteristics and interfaces of vehicle wheels and rail, tracks and wheel gauges, rail sections, alignments, speeds, and track moduli. The report includes chapters on vehicles, alignment, track structures, track components, special track work, aerial structures/bridges, corrosion control, noise and vibration, signals, traction power, and the integration of LRT track into urban streets.

The rail-based transit system is a popular public transportation option, not just with members of the public but also with policy makers looking to install a form of convenient and rapid travel. Even for moving bulk freight long distances, a rail-based system is the most sustainable transportation system currently available. The Handbook of Research on Emerging Innovations in Rail Transportation Engineering presents the latest research on next-generation public transportation infrastructures. Emphasizing a diverse set of topics related to rail-based transportation such as funding issues, policy design, traffic planning and forecasting, and engineering solutions, this comprehensive publication is an essential resource for transportation planners, engineers, policymakers, and graduate-level engineering students interested in uncovering research-based solutions, recommendations, and examples of modern rail transportation systems.

This book provides an overview and assessment of the security risks, both manmade and natural, facing the railways and rail networks. Railroads face significant threats from disasters, but with situational awareness and coordinated effort these can often be substantially minimized. Transportation assets have always been vulnerable to natural disasters, but in the current environment these assets are also a preferred target of human-caused disruption, especially in the form of terrorism, as the events in many other parts of the world have underscored. Railways are not a homogeneous mode of transportation given their various roles in intercity and commuter passenger movement, as well as being a major portion of the freight ton-miles upon which the U.S. economy is highly dependent. Designed to provide advice for railway owners and first responders, this text discusses how to secure hazardous material transport and how to establish guidelines for rail freight operations and rail passenger operations. The book aims to develop an understanding of the unique operating characteristics of railways, the nature and the range of vulnerabilities, the present means for protecting the infrastructure, and the public policy initiatives that are prerequisite for developing a comprehensive appreciation of the magnitude of this issue. The book utilizes case studies of transport disasters to illustrate lessons learned and to provide critical insight into preventative measures. This book will be of great interest to students and practitioners of transportation, technology and engineering, and security management.