Professor Ted Giras is working with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the nation's railroad executives to support the launch of new performance-based safety standards for the U.S. railroad industry. The new standards include the regulatory, processor-based, safety-enforcement standard to be issued later this year. An initial grant from the FRA last year allowed Giras to establish the Center of Rail Safety-Critical Excellence at the University and to create an industry advisory board in collaboration with the AAR. The center also received a grant from Lockheed Martin Corp. to study the safety of the Illinois Department of Transportation's train-control system between Chicago and St. Louis and from the New York City Transit Authority to provide a design for the safety assessment of a new train-control system planned for Brooklyn.

Visit the University of Virginia Center for Rail Safety Excellence