Rail TempEst™, a new software application from KB Signaling Inc. (KBS), provides data that goes “beyond forecasts and assumptions toward real-time, high-resolution rail temperature and measurements of track forces caused by thermal expansion and contraction.”
“With rail buckles and breaks among the leading causes of significant derailments in North America, and temperature-related safety advisories on the rise, the Rail TempEst application gives railroads an improved source of information to monitor critical risk factors,” KB Signaling said. “This latest pioneering development enhances risk management of derailments while reducing unnecessary slow orders and inspections. Rail TempEst, part of our ElectroLogIXS® platform, is now commercially available for our Wayside System Data Management Module (WSDMM™) edge computing platform, offering an innovative machine learning-powered approach to monitoring rail temperature and longitudinal tensile or compressive forces using existing signal infrastructure. It requires no rail-mounted sensors or additional field equipment.”
“Railroads have long relied on weather forecasts and ambient temperature to estimate rail temperature and issue slow orders when conditions indicate possible buckling or rail break risk,” KB Signaling noted. “But forecasts often lack precision, cover overly broad areas and don’t reflect real-time changes on the ground. Rail TempEst changes that by analyzing track circuit data from KB Signaling’s widely deployed Electro Code™ (EC5™ or EC6™) track circuits. The software estimates actual rail temperature for each localized track section, and calculates longitudinal forces based on target neutral temperature values.”
Real-time and historical data are available through a web dashboard, with data and alerts sent via MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport, a messaging system commonly used in industrial automation) along with SMS or email. The web-based interface provides track-by-track detail and customizable dashboards. Operators can trigger inspections, slow orders, and maintenance “based on real conditions, helping reduce operational disruptions and focus resources more effectively.”
KB Signaling developed Rail TempEst in three years, validating it through multiple beta trials. Now patent-pending, the software “uses machine learning algorithms to refine its estimates over time, offering a rare example of continuously improving diagnostic intelligence in a traditionally static environment. The algorithms run on WSDMM, in use at more than 3,500 North American sites, and operate independently of any safety-critical signaling systems. Rail TempEst is the first high-impact application launched on the WSDMM platform, marking a new phase in KB Signaling’s analytics and diagnostics roadmap.”
“There is a precise, clean separation between Rail TempEst and vital signaling functions,” said KB Signaling Chief Technologist Jeff Fries. “It’s designed to inform decisions, not make them. It doesn’t control signals, and it can’t interfere with core operations. That’s fundamental to how we’ve engineered it. This gives operators better information to make better decisions. Today, they’re guessing based on regional forecasts. Now they can act on what’s happening on a specific stretch of track.”
“This is exactly the kind of meaningful innovation we aim for: technology that delivers real operational impact,” said Senior Product Manage Wayside Intelligence Giampaolo Orrigo. “Rail TempEst empowers railroads to manage risk more intelligently and cost-effectively, right now, using the equipment they already have.”
“There’s nothing else like this on the market,” added Ddirector of Products Aric Weingartne. “Other systems require external sensors. Rail TempEst delivers highly localized, real-time data without the added complexity, cost or maintenance burden of additional hardware.”
Rail TempEst™ joins recent product launches like the IXC-R20™ solid-state crossing controller and certified third-party applications developed through the WSDMM™ Certified Developer Program. It’s available under perpetual and recurring license models, with support and maintenance agreements that include Tier 1-3 support and quarterly updates. Each software instance supports up to four monitored track circuits and is compatible with VTI-2S or VTI-2E modules running Electro Code™ or EC6™ protocols. “Most current signaling locations use EC5™ track circuits, making Rail TempEst retrofittable at tens of thousands of sites across North America and worldwide,” KB Signaling said.
“In 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration issued Safety Advisory 2023-07 recommending consideration for using real-time infrastructure monitoring technology to reduce weather-related derailments,” KB Signaling explained. “During a recent 31-month period, 123 such incidents, with 66 derailments, were reported as caused in whole or in part by weather events. The Rail TempEst™ application, now being launched at a U.S. Class I railroad, helps meet this call by turning existing signal systems into real-time monitoring tools.”
