The Operation Respond Institute (ORI) has recently received support from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to expand their new incident-locator technology along a heavily traveled railroad corridor. The OREIS ACCESS (Pat. Pending) software program, which helps emergency responders pinpoint the exact location of a train involved in an incident, will be developed and deployed for the entire Amtrak-owned portion of the Detroit/Chicago Corridor. This line runs from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Porter, Indiana. Once complete, the program will be deployed to area fire, rescue and 911 centers.
FRA is also sponsoring the deployment of the OREISTM software along proposed high-speed corridors in Illinois running from Chicago to Springfield and Springfield to St. Louis.
OREISTM ACCESS is a prototype software application designed to allow emergency rescue crews to determine the physical location of a train that is in distress. First responders can locate an accident, assess the best means of access, and act appropriately, all with the utilization of one program.
The ACCESS prototype was developed for an area along the Chicago/Detroit Corridor between Niles and Dowagiac, Michigan. Based on the success of the prototype, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has granted ORI the follow-on contract to expand ACCESS along the corridor. FRA added an additional request to implement this approach on a segment of the Chicago to St. Louis corridor.
In addition, ORI plans to work in conjunction with the Union Pacific Railroad to integrate GPS information on train location with the OREIS ACCESS software to provide additional emergency locator information. This will be tested and developed along a selected section of the same rail corridor.
ACCESS allows responders to pinpoint the location of a train in trouble in order to reduce response time. Using a coordinated system of maps, streets, and rail landmarks, the system helps eliminate confusion caused by uncertainty regarding an accident's location. Responders can use the system to identify specific railroad signals, mileposts, bridges and rail grade crossings. This information is useful when responding to both passenger and freight railroad incidents. Further, ACCESS can be used to preplan response operations to difficult-to-reach locations.
Prompt response to rail accidents is key to reducing the severity of injuries to passengers and employees, and damage to property and the environment. Using "off the shelf" technology, this feature can be developed and deployed on a county-by-county basis in an affordable package for emergency responders. As this feature comes on-line, communities will be notified. They will download the capability either through the Internet or receive a CD-ROM.
ACCESS was developed in association with Federal, state and local governments and several railroad carriers, including the FRA, the State of Michigan, the Dowagiac and Niles emergency response community and Amtrak.
OREISTM ACCESS is the next step in providing emergency responders with accurate and timely information. An added component to the OREISTM software program, the OREISTM Access feature will save time, dollars and lives.