Rail and Transit

Railways and public transportation have long been drivers of economic and social change, efficiently transporting goods and people across the country and serving as connectors within and between cities and suburbs.

Today, technological innovations—from automation to electrification—are advancing both the performance and safety of bus and rail services. These changes call for new approaches to safety assurance.

At MITRE, we’re applying our longstanding expertise in safety management systems (SMS) and cybersecurity to the rail and transit domains.

As passenger rail operators across the country work to meet a federal mandate to implement a formal SMS framework in their operations, MITRE is playing a critical role.

We’re working with regional and national passenger rail operators to infuse safety into every aspect of their operations—from best practices for collecting, fusing, and analyzing safety data to instituting the changes necessary to achieve an effective safety culture. Our efforts are designed to improve safety not only for the millions of passengers who use passenger rail services, but also for the employees who provide them.

To promote safety gains industrywide, we’ve developed a roadmap for achieving the next level of safety.

We’re also securing freight rail operations as critical national infrastructure against cyber threats. We protect locomotive and communications systems against intruders, build system resiliency to operate through attacks, and develop assurance to overcome possible vulnerabilities.

Together with our government and industry partners, we’re shaping a future where evolving rail and transit industries continue their long history of contribution to the American way of life.