The 2025 RAS Problem Solving Competition
Operations Research and Advanced Analytical Approaches Applied to Real-World Rail Problems
First Prize: $2,000 -- Second Prize: $1,000 -- Third Prize: $750
Full description of the competition
The INFORMS Railway Applications Section is pleased to announce the 2025 Problem Solving Competition.
TTX Company has generously volunteered to sponsor the prizes and provide the problem, including data drawn from its operations. TTX Company was formed in 1955 and has grown to provide 175,000 railcars to North American railroads, investing $13 billion since 2000 and spending $800 million annually to maintain its fleet.
The 2025 Railway Application Section Problem Solving Competition focuses on failure prediction of wheels using detector data and wheel mileage. Wheelsets are critical components of railway vehicles, and their condition significantly impacts the safety and efficiency of railway operations. Participants will use data from Wheel Profile Detectors (WPDs), Truck Hunting Detectors (THDs), Wheel Impact Load Detectors (WILDs), wheel mileage, and repair history. The dataset includes seven years of information on car details, car mileage, wheel information, wheel mileage, and detector data. Failures are defined using FRA/AAR condemnable failure rules as High Flange, High Impact, Thin Flange, and other. Developing an accurate predictive model for failure detection will enhance the maintenance and safety of railway operations by enabling proactive interventions and reducing the risk of wheelset failures.
------------------------------
Peiran Han
Public Relations Officer, Railway Applications Section
Beijing Jiaotong University
------------------------------