The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University, working with university partners, has published research offering practical approaches to strengthen rail safety and resilience against natural hazards, severe weather and other disruptive events.

The study targets emergency managers, public agencies, railroad operators and other transportation professionals. It provides tools to identify and assess hazards, develop emergency plans, train personnel, and map vulnerabilities across the U.S. rail network to pinpoint at-risk segments and support planning and investment decisions.

"Resilience is ultimately about keeping people and goods moving safely," MTI Deputy Executive Director Hilary Nixon said. "This research gives rail agencies practical tools to prepare for challenges before they become crises."

What does the research recommend?

The report's central operational recommendation is the adoption of real-time hazard detection technology. It identifies lidar, cameras and deep learning as tools that can detect people, vehicles, fallen rocks and other potential threats to rail safety before they cause incidents.

Beyond detection, the research sets out a structured preparedness framework covering:

• Guidance for identifying and assessing hazards
• Development of emergency plans
• Training for rail personnel
• Mapping of network vulnerabilities to guide planning and investment

Which tools are already in use?

One operational example cited is the Community Resilience Extreme Events Portal. The portal combines wildfire danger data, critical asset information and vulnerability data to assess risk along California's Class I rail networks. It also provides wildfire preparedness training for urban rail operators, giving passenger agencies a working model of the preparedness approach the research advocates.

What barriers stand in the way?

The research also includes an analysis of 43 freight plans and a nationwide survey. The survey identifies the main obstacles to implementing resilience measures:

• Limited funding
• Fragmented governance
• Difficulties in public-private coordination

These findings frame the gap between available tools and actual deployment. The detection technologies and mapping platforms the report describes exist today, but funding structures and coordination failures across jurisdictions constrain their uptake, according to the survey results.

The report positions resilience planning as a pre-emptive exercise rather than a post-incident response. Its authors argue that rail agencies should identify at-risk segments and build emergency plans before hazards materialize, using the vulnerability-mapping tools the research provides.

MTI says the guidance is intended for immediate use by transportation professionals, and the inclusion of an operational platform in California suggests the approaches can be applied without new technology development.