RR2SW: Advancing Rail Safety and Resilience |
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Funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Rail Resilience to Severe Weather (RR2SW) program brought together researchers from across the country to help strengthen the safety, reliability, and resilience of the nation’s rail system in the face of severe weather, natural hazards, and other disruptive events. Led by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San José State University (MTI), with partners from Clemson University, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Michigan State University, Northeastern University, Oregon State University, and the University of Hawaii, the program unified expertise across engineering, artificial intelligence and sensing, emergency management, transportation planning, and infrastructure risk assessment to conduct research and develop tools and training for a safer and more resilient rail system.
Through five complementary research projects, RR2SW explored new technologies and practical approaches for identifying and reducing risks to rail infrastructure and operations. Just as importantly, the program focused on moving research into practice—developing tools, training, data resources, and guidance that railroad operators, public agencies, emergency managers, and other transportation professionals can use to improve preparedness, support decision-making, and keep people and goods moving safely and reliably.
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A Closer Look at the RR2SW Projects |
Turning Wildfire Data into Action for Rail Resilience |
Principal Investigator: Karl Kim, PhD (University of Hawaii)
How can rail operators better understand wildfire risk and turn that understanding into action? RR2SW researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa combined data-driven decision-support tools with practical training to help rail agencies strengthen preparedness and resilience against various hazards and emergencies.
The team developed the Community Resilience Extreme Events Portal (CREEP), which uses a combination of wildfire danger indices, critical asset locations, and vulnerability data to help users assess risk along California’s Class I freight and passenger rail networks. Integrated into Pacific Disaster Center’s DisasterAWARE® platform, CREEP allows users to visualize vulnerability across rail segments and identify priorities for planning and mitigation.
The researchers also translated this work into practice through a four-hour wildfire preparedness training course for urban rail operators, developed in collaboration with the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center and Haley & Aldrich, Inc. With a focus on urban rail operators supporting large stadium events, the course explores how wildfire hazards can affect rail infrastructure and operations and provides tools, best practices, and a scenario-planning exercise to support proactive risk management.
Explore the project resources:
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Seeing Through the Storm: Real-Time Detection for Rail Safety |
Principal Investigator: Hayder Radha, PhD (Michigan State University)
Keeping trains safe means being able to spot hazards quickly, even in challenging conditions. RR2SW researchers at Michigan State University developed and tested an approach combining lidar, cameras, and deep learning to improve detection of potential safety threats around moving trains.
The system demonstrated the ability to identify hazards such as vehicles or people on railroad tracks and fallen rocks, even under adverse weather conditions. By adapting sensor technologies already used in autonomous vehicles, the research points to a potentially cost-effective approach for improving real-time warnings, rail safety, and operational resilience.
Explore the project resource:
Multimodal Solutions for the Detection of Safety-Related Railroad Objects under Adverse Weather: Architectures, Proof-of-Concepts, and Performance Results
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Bridging the Gap Between Freight Planning and Resilience |
Principal Investigator: Serena Alexander, PhD (Northeastern University)
Extreme weather and climate hazards are increasingly disrupting freight and rail systems, but how fully those risks are reflected in transportation planning varies. RR2SW researchers at Northeastern University analyzed 43 state and metropolitan freight plans and surveyed transportation professionals nationwide to examine how resilience is being incorporated into planning and where gaps remain.
The study found widespread commitment to resilience but persistent barriers to putting plans into practice, including limited funding, fragmented governance, and challenges coordinating public and private interests. Researchers identified promising practices such as integrating hazard data into project selection, strengthening public-private partnerships, and improving multimodal connectivity to help build more resilient and reliable freight and rail systems.
Explore the project resource:
Mind the Gap: Freight and Rail System Resilience between Planning and Practice — A Synthesis of Freight Plan Best Practices and Survey Results from U.S. Transportation Professionals
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From Risk to Response: Preparing Railroads for Extreme Events |
Principal Investigator: Frances L. Edwards, PhD (San José State University)
Extreme weather and other hazards can disrupt railroad operations with little warning, making preparation critical. RR2SW researchers developed a series of practical resources to help railroad risk and emergency managers identify hazards, assess risks, plan for emergencies, and strengthen organizational response to climate- and weather-related disruptions.
Beginning with a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA), the series guides railroad organizations through the key stages of emergency preparedness—from developing emergency operations plans and training field and managerial personnel to conducting exercises that put those plans into practice.
Explore the project resources:
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From Risk to Response: Preparing Railroads for Extreme Events |
Principal Investigator: Haizhong Wang, PhD (Clemson University)
Where is the U.S. rail network most vulnerable to natural hazards, and what can past events tell us about future risk? RR2SW researchers at Oregon State University and Clemson University combined historical hazard, weather, and rail accident data to identify rail segments exposed to flooding, extreme heat, landslides, and other hazards and assess their impacts on rail infrastructure.
The research maps where hazards have affected the rail network, estimates associated damage, and develops risk and resilience metrics to support more informed planning and investment. Findings highlight the significant costs of hazard-related rail incidents and show how both environmental conditions and infrastructure and maintenance factors can contribute to risk. Together, the work lays a foundation for more targeted maintenance, mitigation, and resilience planning across the U.S. rail network.
Explore the project resources:
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About the Mineta Transportation Institute |
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At the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University (SJSU) our mission is to increase mobility for all by improving the safety, efficiency, accessibility, and convenience of our nation's transportation system. Through research, education, workforce development and technology transfer, we help create a connected world. MTI was founded in 1991 and is funded through the US Department of Transportation, the California Department of Transportation, and public and private grants including those made available by the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB1). MTI is affiliated with SJSU’s Lucas College and Graduate School of Business.
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Mineta Transportation Institute
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192
sjsu.edu
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