Trainwatch automates the precise, continuous grade crossing data your city needs to win multi-million dollar FRA grants — and give EMS unrestricted access to every neighborhood.
This is a simulation of the Trainwatch city dashboard. In deployment, crossing statuses update automatically from live sensor data.
At-grade rail crossings don't just slow traffic — they fracture your city into zones of haves and have-nots. A prolonged blockage can mean the difference between life and death, and without hard data, your city can't prove it, can't fund a solution, and can't change it.
When a train blocks a crossing for 10, 15, or 20 minutes, it doesn't delay response — it eliminates access to entire neighborhoods. Research published by the Federal Railroad Administration confirms that blocked crossings remain one of the leading preventable causes of delayed emergency response.
The FRA's Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program has $2.4B available for grade separations and closures. But applications require verified, longitudinal data on crossing frequency, duration, and severity — data most municipalities cannot produce, and so cannot compete.
Federal reviewers demand machine-verified incident logs: exact arrival times, blockage durations, and frequency data across months of operation. The DOT's official guidance specifies data standards that manual collection cannot reliably meet.
Ground-coupled vibration sensors detect train presence with precision. Paired with computer vision cameras mounted on public infrastructure, the system cross-validates every event for maximum accuracy and redundancy.
Our platform automatically generates structured incident logs — timestamped arrival, departure, and total blockage time for every event — formatted to meet FRA data submission standards.
Once deployed, Trainwatch monitors 24/7 with no staff overhead. The system alerts city staff to high-severity events in real time and builds a cumulative evidentiary record over weeks, months, and years.
Cities that win FRA grade crossing grants have one thing in common: verified, longitudinal incident data. Trainwatch exists to give your city that record — because when the next funding window opens, cities with data will compete. Cities without it won't.
Two programs are open right now. Both require documented crossing data to be competitive. Cities starting data collection today will be positioned for this cycle and every future round.
CRISI notice: This is the final round of IIJA-guaranteed rail infrastructure funding. Future cycles depend entirely on annual Congressional appropriations — with no minimum guaranteed amount.
Pelham documented how at-grade crossings — specifically along Shelby County Road 52 — routinely trapped EMS units and cut off residential neighborhoods from emergency services. With verified data demonstrating severity and frequency of blockages, the city made a compelling case to federal reviewers and secured $41.7 million to construct a permanent grade separation bridge.
Houston's grant application presented verified records of 850 documented train blockage incidents in a single year at a specific crossing. The result: $36.9 million awarded. Furthermore, Harris County continues to secure millions in targeted grants simply to assess ongoing crossing safety in the East End.
Federal reviewers require applications to calculate economic loss using specific Department of Transportation (DOT) valuation metrics. Use the sliders below to estimate the annual economic drain of your crossing based on US DOT standard Value of Travel Time Savings (VTTS).
A standard 90-day pilot covering one crossing runs $3,500–$9,500 depending on scope, and stays well below the $25K threshold that triggers a formal RFP in most TX/OK municipalities — meaning your department can approve it directly. That includes full sensor deployment, live dashboard access for your staff, and a final FRA grant-formatted data report with video evidence package. No recurring fees during the pilot period.
For a competitive infrastructure application, 90 days of sensor data is the target. However, for cities that want to act before the June 8, 2026 RCE deadline, Trainwatch can combine available FRA Safety Data API historical records with whatever sensor data you can collect from now until the deadline. More importantly, every day of data collected now strengthens your position for future cycles — and future funding rounds will require the same evidence. Start now and you're ready for every window that opens, whether that's this year or next.
No — and this is one of the most important design decisions we made. Every Trainwatch sensor is installed on public infrastructure entirely outside the railroad right-of-way. Your city retains full control of the timeline and the hardware. You never need to engage the railroad, navigate their legal teams, or wait months for access approval. This typically cuts deployment time from 6–12 months to under two weeks.
The municipality retains 100% ownership of all crossing data generated during the pilot. Trainwatch provides the data processing and DOT-compliant formatting — we do not sell, license, or monetize your city's crossing records. At the end of the pilot you receive a complete data export in standard formats, regardless of whether you continue to a full deployment.
Minimal. Installation takes under one hour with zero traffic disruption. Once deployed, the system runs unattended 24/7 — there is no monitoring requirement on your staff. We provide a single point of contact for any maintenance issues and respond to any sensor outage within 24 hours. Your department's primary involvement is reviewing the final data report at the 90-day mark.
Yes, completely. Every unit operates on its own independent cellular/LTE connection and can be equipped with solar power and internal battery reserves. No hardwiring, no pavement cuts, and no exposure to your municipal IT infrastructure. The unit functions in locations with no existing city infrastructure whatsoever.
We are not asking for a long-term procurement commitment. We're asking for the chance to prove what your most problematic crossing is actually costing your community — and to give you the data to do something about it, permanently.
Work with our team to pinpoint the crossing that poses the greatest risk to EMS access and community connectivity. We'll validate it against FRA grant eligibility criteria.
Our team installs the hybrid sensor network on public infrastructure adjacent to the crossing. No railroad coordination required. Operational within days, not months.
Over the monitoring period, Trainwatch generates the precise, grant-formatted data record your city needs to submit a compelling FRA Railroad Crossing Elimination application.
Hybrid vibration + computer vision hardware installed on your target crossing, fully operational and calibrated.
Real-time access to crossing event data, blockage durations, and cumulative incident history for your staff.
Automated, submission-ready data exports aligned to FRA RCE Grant documentation requirements.
Our team works alongside your public works staff to build a competitive RCE Grant narrative around your crossing data.
All hardware positioned outside ROW. Your city controls the timeline. No railroad attorneys, no right-of-way negotiations.
A transparent, zero-friction deployment plan designed to generate FRA-ready data without burdening your municipal staff.
Our engineering team conducts a remote and physical survey of the problematic crossing to determine optimal sensor mounting points on existing public infrastructure.
The hybrid vibration and optical sensors are installed entirely outside the railroad right-of-way. Total installation time takes less than 1 hour with zero traffic disruption.
City engineers and EMS dispatch receive secure access to the Trainwatch portal, providing real-time crossing statuses, blockage alerts, and early cumulative data.
At the 90-day mark, we deliver a comprehensive incident log—detailing arrival times, durations, and clearance times—ready to be attached to your DOT grant application.
Trainwatch runs a daily automated scrape of the FRA Safety Data API, ArcGIS municipal records, and DOT incident narratives across TX, OK, LA, AR, KS, and MO. Every city below has been scored, ranked, and briefed using nothing but public federal data. If your city appears here, this information is already on the record — the only question is whether you're acting on it.
"Ghost Train" events — gates activating with no train present — are generating a documented surge of resident complaints to City Council. The City currently has no independent dataset to hold Union Pacific accountable or to qualify for FRA Quiet Zone designation.
The BNSF corridor bisects Norman, cutting off the University of Oklahoma campus from emergency services and residential zones for documented periods exceeding 20 minutes. Oklahoma's blocked crossing statute was struck down as unconstitutional in 2022 — federal data is the city's only remaining enforcement tool. Norman is Trainwatch's priority pilot target: FRA historical records can be compiled immediately, with live sensor data collected from deployment through the June 8 RCE deadline.
Rail traffic on Plano Parkway during the 3:30–4:15 PM school dismissal window creates a documented cascade effect, trapping buses and student drivers. Without verified blockage timing data, the City cannot build a competitive CIP or federal grant case for grade separation at this corridor.
Emergency response protocols for the Wynnewood refinery depend on unobstructed access via the primary municipal crossing. BNSF operations create frequent, unmonitored blockages that delay mutual aid fire response by an estimated 12–15 minutes — a documented "Critical Point of Failure" under OSHA Process Safety Management standards.
| Rank | City | State | FRA Incidents | Friction Score | Pitch Angle | Grant Fit | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Kansas City | MO | 28 | 16.5 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 02 | Baton Rouge | LA | 24 | 14.9 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 03 | Longview | TX | 22 | 13.4 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 04 | Wichita | KS | 21 | 13.1 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 05 | Shreveport | LA | 20 | 12.6 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 06 | Mesquite | TX | 19 | 12.0 | Safety / Public Welfare | High | Prospect |
| 07 | Plano | TX | 18 | 11.7 | Safety / Public Welfare | High | Prospect |
| 08 | Waco | TX | 18 | 11.7 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 09 | Garland | TX | 17 | 11.5 | Hazmat / Supply Chain | High | Prospect |
| 10 | Little Rock | AR | 17 | 11.2 | Safety / Public Welfare | High | Prospect |
Grant cycles open and close. Cities with verified, longitudinal crossing data compete in every one. Cities without it can't compete in any. Your crossing's history exists whether or not it's documented — start building the record now.
Oklahoma's blocked crossing statute was ruled unconstitutional in 2022. Federal documentation is your only enforcement tool. Don't wait on Washington.
No long-term commitment. No railroad permits. Just a conversation about your city's most problematic crossing and how we can help you document it for federal funding.
Takes 2 minutes. We'll reach out within one business day to discuss your city's crossing situation.
Our team will reach out within one business day. For immediate needs, call (214) 471-2988.