Appendix C - Broad Agency Announcement Research Topics FY26.27

Federal Railroad Administration
Office of Research, Development, and Technology
Broad Agency Announcement — BAA 2026–27
Appendix C — Research Topics
Note: If a division has satisfied its research needs before the BAA end date, we may re-publish this list with one or more topics removed.

TRACK

FRA-TR-001

Improved Rail Weld Technologies

FRA-TR-002

Non-Contact Flaw Detection

FRA-TR-003

Characterization and Risk Assessment of Non-Regulatory, Combined Track Geometry Defects

FRA-TR-004

Special Trackwork Wear Analysis

FRA-TR-005

Innovative Methods for Measuring or Monitoring Longitudinal Rail Stress

FRA-TR-006

Research and Development on Track Lateral Strength

FRA-TR-007

Determining Pre-break Rail Neutral Temperature, Longitudinal Rail Restraint, and Best Rail Adjustment Practices

FRA-TR-008

Scalable Extraction of Railway Infrastructure Geometry, Non-Rail Related Structures, and Human Activity and/or Encroachments on Rail Infrastructure from Remote Sensing Imagery

FRA-TR-009

Wheel/Rail Contact Evaluation

FRA-TR-010

Concrete/Composite Tie Technology Advancements

ROLLING STOCK AND EQUIPMENT

FRA-RS-001

Improving the Safety of Hazardous Materials Transportation

TRAIN CONTROL AND COMMUNICATION

FRA-TC-001

Train Movement Communications System

FRA-TC-002

Verification of Position Navigation Module Performance

FRA-TC-003

Maintenance-of-Way (MoW) Employee and Rail Vehicle Safety Systems

FRA-TC-004

Enhancing Rail Safety Integrity Against Quantum-Era Exploitation and Automated Threats

Track
Topic: FRA-TR-001
Title: Improved Rail Weld Technologies
Description
FRA is interested in new welding methods or treatments that aim to improve the wear resistance, ductility, and fatigue life properties of in-track and plant welds. FRA wants to explore:
● Thermite welds that more closely match the parent rail steel metallurgy. ● Electric flash butt welds that have an improved weld interface to eliminate the concave/convex defects seen in Class I tracks. Alternative in-track or plant rail welding pre- or post-weld treatments to improve weld properties. ● New in-track rail welding methods
FRA will not consider projects requiring large initial investments to develop and build new equipment. Offerors needing substantial capital investment for equipment should instead explore potential funding from FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant program. Offerors must have extensive experience in the proposed research area, have a clear path forward that results in in-track testing, and