'Big Data' in Railroad Maintenance Planning 2026 Conference

Modern Railways are making increasing use of new generation inspection and operating technology to obtain more and more data on the condition of the track, equipment, and operations. This extensive amount of data, which includes data of increasing complexity as well as volume, has led to a condition known as "Big Data", where the volume of data is such that traditional analysis techniques are no longer viable to efficiently make use of all of this large volume of data. Thus, important information is often buried in this "mountain" of data. Since railways need to convert this data into useable information to help them plan their maintenance and capital programs as well as their ongoing operations, there is a need for the application of new and improved analysis techniques to make this conversion from data into information. One such area of improved data analysis is the use of "Big Data" or Data Analytics with its associated statistical analysis techniques which is the focus of this conference. The 2026 conference is intended to expand on previous years’ conferences and introduce these new and emerging analysis techniques and to show how they can be applied to the large volume of inspection and operational data collected by railways to improve their planning of the critical capital and maintenance programs. This year’s conference focuses on new and emerging applications of “Big Data” analytics to include infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance planning and railroad operations. The program for 2026 will use a 1-1/2 day format with a full day on Wednesday December 9, 2026 and a half day on December 10, 2026, with a reception the evening of December 9, 2026.