Diagnostic tool

Rail bottleneck scorecard

The rail bottleneck scorecard is the front door to RailForge: a fast hard-gate screen that separates fundable corridors from distractions before money gets burned.

Run the scorecard Inspect sample brief

Diesel-electric locomotive at an Illinois Central yard.

Price: $25/75k
Cash: 50% upfront
Cycle: 10 days

Bottleneck scorecard

Run the first screen.

Use this to decide whether a rail bottleneck deserves a paid corridor brief, more records, a pause, or a clean kill. It is a triage tool, not an engineering opinion.

Buyer typeNamed corridor or assetOwner / sponsor path

Funding targetDecision deadline

Quantified bottleneck value5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.18Corridor / sponsor control5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.18Political + sponsor coalition5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.1Fits a templated wedge5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.1Capital-stack credibility5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.16Field evidence on hand5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.1Repeatable beyond this corridor5 / 10positive signal · weight 0.08Safety-regulation complexity4 / 10complexity penalty · weight 0.1NEPA / environmental complexity4 / 10complexity penalty · weight 0.08Labor / staffing complexity4 / 10complexity penalty · weight 0.05

Sources and evidence

Public claims tied to source records.

regulatory_gate

Track work must be designed and maintained inside FRA track safety requirements.

Claim claim_track_safety_gate · Confidence high · Caveat: This is a hard gate, not a marketing claim.

Federal Railroad Administration: FRA Track Safety Standards

Compliance caveat

Evidence first. Certification never implied.

FRA Track Safety

Map applicability before scope claims

Required owner: track owner / responsible railroad

FRA Roadway Worker Protection

Identify responsible party and exclusions

Required owner: roadway worker employer / railroad

FRA Bridge Safety

Do not opine on capacity without qualified review

Required owner: track owner / bridge engineer

FRA Grade Crossing

Flag crossing authority path

Required owner: railroad / road authority

FRA Signal and Train Control

Exclude or route to signal specialist

Required owner: responsible railroad / signal maintainer

Buy America / BABA

Create item-level compliance ledger

Required owner: sponsor / procurement lead

NEPA / Environmental

Classify authority path; do not bury as scalar risk

Required owner: sponsor / lead agency

STB / Common Carrier Authority

Require legal screen before buildability claims

Required owner: sponsor / rail counsel

Right of Way

Use as hard gate before scoring

Required owner: owner / sponsor

Procurement / Contracting

Add contract archetype and exclusions

Required owner: sponsor / contracting lead

Start here

Send one named bottleneck.

Tell us the corridor, owner, scorecard result, constraint, deadline, and procurement path. The first reply is a fit screen, record request, and recommendation on whether the 10-day brief is the right step.

Capability packet, W-9, COI, NDA, and scope letter available on request.