Research Technologies For Uncontrolled Movements

Uncontrolled movements (UM) of railway equipment are a major safety hazard for crew members and the environment. Uncontrolled movements can be divided into three main categories – switching without air, loss of control, and inappropriate securement. The scope of this contract will focus primarily on uncontrolled movement in the rail yard – switching without air, specifically. Despite being a low-probability event, the consequences are severe, particularly if dangerous goods are involved. Although safety actions and efforts were implemented since the Lac-Mégantic accident, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) expressed new concern due to an upward trend in occurrences since 2015.

There was a total of 78 occurrences of UM in 2019, an all-time high in the past decade. In attempt to reduce and mitigate the amount of UM occurrences, this study will evaluate human factors, technologies, and operational behaviors related to UM.