Big Data conference: "Moving from talking to action" - Railway Age

The 2018 University of Delaware Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering "Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference," held Dec. 13-14, spotlighted the progression the industry is making in dealing with Big Data--"converting the mountain of data collected by railway systems into effective maintenance planning information, with a focus on railway needs and practical applications. More than 200 students, consultants, suppliers and railroaders from both the freight and passenger sectors attended the fifth annual conference, organized by Dr. Allan M. Zarembski, Professor and Director of the university's Railroad Research and Safety Program. Federal Railroad Administrator Ron Batory was a featured speaker, along with presentations from such companies as Norfolk Southern, BNSF, CN, ENSCO, GREX, RailInc, Alstom, Uptake and VisioStack. The February 2019 issues of Railway Age and Railway Track & Structures will contain feature articles on the annual event. Following is a summary, as presented by David Staplin, consultant to HNTB, Amtrak Deputy Chief Engineer (retired) and University of Delaware Railroad Advisory Board Chairman, with additional reporting by railroad economist and Railway Age Contributing Editor Jim Blaze. "In prior years, the presentations focused on dealing with data, on potential," said Staplin. "This year, we are seeing more problems tackled and solved.