Anacostia Rail Holdings’ Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad subsidiary is equipping 100 new rail cars with telematics units.
The telematics units collect data about location, speed and performance. The RailPulse open-architecture railcar platform supports the maintenance-free units.
The 48-foot, 115-ton capacity, transverse-style cars each hold up to five steel coils. They have covers for all-weather transport.
As a RailPulse subscriber, Anacostia’s railroads will have access to telematics for all tagged cars that are routed to or from online customers, regardless of car ownership.
“We have supported RailPulse since its 2020 inception and are enthusiastic about the coalition’s initiative to create an industry-wide opportunity to increase both shipment visibility and rail car safety,” says Eric Jakubowski, ARH vice president and chief commercial officer, in a press release.
The RailPulse platform’s capabilities include:
- ETA calculations and geofence entry and exit alerts for first- and last-mile validation
- Accurate load status for precise loaded and empty mileage calculations
- Impact detection
- Stationary loading/unloading detection
- Real-time monitoring of brake slide events
- Railcar dwell reporting
“ARH is thrilled to be making the first step for our railroads to use and explore the advanced technology of RailPulse,” Peter Gilbertson, ARH CEO and president, said. “We look forward to adding similar technology to more of our equipment in the future.”
An affiliate of Anacostia Rail Holdings, the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad operates 127 miles of line providing rail freight service between Chicago and South Bend, and Chicago and Kingsbury, with connections to Chicago-area railroads and the Port of Chicago.
Anacostia Rail Holdings owns and operates freight railroads throughout the United States. ARH’s six railroads handle the equivalent of over two million carloads annually. ARH provides freight services to major metropolitan centers and small communities operating on over 600 miles of track.
