Highway Rail Intersection (HRI)

Project Description

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) was leading the development of a lower cost alternative to traditional active rail crossing warning systems, suitable for deployment at rail crossings on roads with relatively low traffic and train volumes. The Highway Rail Intersection (HRI System) was a proposed low cost alternative that would provide active warning functions to enhance safety at these crossings. This low cost system featured an innovative design that located locomotives and crossings using Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), maintained communication between components wirelessly, and supplied power to the system through solar panels and batteries.

Mn/DOT, in cooperation with the project partners, developed and installed the HRI System at 27 selected low volume crossings on the Twin Cities and Western Railroad (TC&W) corridor in Minnesota between the Twin Cities and South Dakota. The purpose of the Low Cost HRI Active Warning Project was to determine whether the system could perform as well, or better, at low volume crossings than the more costly traditional active warning systems.