RAILER Engineered Management System

The RAILER Engineered Management System (EMS), is a software system developed by the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), to help civil engineers, technicians, and managers evaluate track and plan effective, economical railroad track maintenance and repair (M&R) programs. RAILER provides track managers with a computerized database and analysis procedures for storing data on railroad track inventory, inspection results, track conditions, M&R costs and policies, work history, and other essential items. Periodic track inspections form the basis for the track management process. These can be quick "safety" inspections or less frequent "detailed" inspections.

RAILER can be used for both network-level and project-level management. Network-level management activities include assessing current overall track network condition and trends, developing M&R strategies, budgeting, developing short- and long-range M&R plans, and justifying budgets and M&R projects. These tasks involve the use of track standards and the Track Structure Condition Index (TSCI). Project-level management activities include the detailed analysis of specific track segments that may be needed for problem diagnosis. Linkage to the CERL-developed TRACK program enhances this analysis. The RAILER system can incorporate the results of commercially available internal rail flaw detection and automated track geometry surveys. Also, the efficiency of data logging and transcription can be improved further using the RAILER RED add-on software application for pen-based electronic clipboards. RAILER data and analysis results can also be viewed in the ArcView Geographic Information System (GIS). Many views and themes have been developed. RAILER GIS was developed as an interface program between RAILER databases and ArcView.