NC DOT "Sealed Corridor" Assessment: Phase I, II, and III [Research Results]

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
• Contributors:
  Alibrahim, Sam
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  High Speed Rail Railroad Grade Crossings Railroad Safety Sealed Corridors Speed Transportation Corridors
• Publication/ Report Number:
  RR08-07
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  North Carolina
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration
• Abstract:
  The Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Research and Development (R&D) tasked the Research and Innovative Technology Administration’s (RITA) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) to document the further success of the “Sealed Corridor” project through Phases I, II and III. The “Sealed Corridor” is the section of the designated Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) Corridor that runs through North Carolina as shown in Figure 1. The “Sealed Corridor” program aims at improving or consolidating every highway-rail grade crossing, public and private, along the Charlotte to Raleigh rail route in North Carolina. The initial assessment of this HSR corridor as mandated by Congress was published in 2001. FRA’s intent in completing this updated assessment is to compare the results from a partial Phase I implementation to the results of completing Phases I, II and III. This study consisted of assessing the results of the North Carolina’s “Sealed Corridor” program. The research on the “Sealed Corridor” assesses the progress made at the 189 crossings that have been treated with improved warning devices or closed between Charlotte and Raleigh, from March 1995 through September 2004. Two approaches are used to describe benefits in terms of “lives saved”: 1. Fatal crash analysis to derive “lives saved,” and 2. Prediction of “lives saved” based on the reduction of risk at the treated crossings. Both methods estimate that over 10 lives are saved as a result of the 189 improvements implemented through December 2004. Analysis also shows that the resulting reduction in accidents, due to the crossing improvements, is sustainable through the year 2010, when anticipated exposure and train speeds along the corridor will be increased.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  Federal Railroad Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5577f9c367cb78b7c15797a49ff3beac94be10eb784494f526a05f5ac4e37fdb
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/61395/dot_61395_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 108.45 KB ]