Hans Sachetti: One of the most recent developments in rail freight is GPS transponders on every freight car. From the central dispatch office (for Burlington Northern / Santa Fe that is Ft. Worth, TX) the railroad can pinpoint the exact location of every freight car in their system. Before GPS if a freight car was accidentally switched into a seldom used siding it could remain lost for a couple of weeks.
Shemeka Laker: Some newer developments or projects are FRED's or EOT's. They tell you when the end of a train is and on one or both of them, if there is any defects on the train. They aren't completely new, but they are relatively new. Not all railroads use these. These aren't very easy to find on Class 3 railroads. Another great investment is a lot of Class 2, 3 and once in a while Class 1 (Most class one railroads have already upgraded to this. Especially on busy mainlines.) have been upgrading their rails from 60 foot sections of it, to 1/4 mile welded ribbon r! ail. If you go on Google Images and type in ribbon rail you will see one of those trains that haul the rails. I'm not sure how they are unloaded though. If you want high speed rail, the country just got 8 Billion dollars to put in a high speed rail system in select locations. I hope it goes through, but I'm not sure if it will be accepted and get off of the ground. These are mainly or relatively new developments/projects. Edit: 10aila, here's a website that I found about it. I don't know if it's what you want, but it's an article about it. http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sus......Show more
Roni Kurz: New diesel engines currently in production by GE and EMD are far more efficient than their predecessors. Although these engines are being produced by US companies, the locomotives that use them are in service worldwide. Also, GE has developed a battery-hybrid GEvo that may enter production in the near future (does anybody out there know the status of this p! roject?)
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