Thomas White has over 35 years of experience in railroad operations including over twenty years in operations management and traffic control and over ten years in infrastructure design, service and operation planning, and capacity analysis.
1991-current Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor (Washington, Oregon, British Columbia)
Increased passenger traffic (from 6 to 26 trains per day), high speed (110 mph), integration with commuter service (36 trains per day), on freight railroad (50-150 trains per day). Responsible for infrastructure and operating plans, ongoing running time reduction program, analysis of characteristics of proposed trainsets and locomotives, and incremental implementation program.
1998-2000 Mexico City-Huehuetoca Commuter Railroad (Mexico)
Heavy traffic (500,000 passengers per day) commuter service on freight railroad (70 trains per day). Responsible for infrastructure and operating plan, participated in vehicle specification and trackage rights agreement.
1991-1995 Everett-Lakewood Commuter Service (Washington)
Commuter service (52 trains per day) on freight railroad (30-150 trains per day). Responsible for Infrastructure and operating plans.
2003 Port of Tacoma Operations Study (Washington)
Participate in evaluating railroad capacity in the Port of Tacoma area.
2002 Portland I5 Capacity Study (Oregon)
Participate in evaluating railroad capacity in the Portland terminal area and developing infrastructure plans to meet current and future traffic requirements.
2002 King Street Station (Seattle, Washington)
Develop infrastructure plan for facilities needed to meet growth expectations because of Sounder and Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor programs, increasing passenger train traffic from ten daily trains to over seventy daily trains.
1998 Vancouver Passenger Terminal Location (British Columbia)
Develop and evaluate alternative Vancouver BC passenger terminal locations and rail access routes.
1998 Additional Seattle – Vancouver Passenger Service (Washington, British Columbia)
Develop an infrastructure plan for additional (for one and two additional trips) Seattle-Vancouver BC passenger service.
1991-1995 Burlington Northern Railroad Northern Corridor
Participated in infrastructure planning for the Chicago-Minneapolis/St. Paul/Seattle route.
2002-2003 Everett (Washington) – Lakewood (Washington)
Develop integrated operating plan for commuter and intercity passenger services.
1997-2000 New Jersey, California
Operating plans for proposals: Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit, San Diego commuter service.
1999 Durban Metrorail (South Africa)
Participated in service and operating plan development for high density commuter service.
1995 Central Puget Sound Commuter Rail Demonstration (Washington)
Participated in service and operating plan development and implementation for a five month, 80 mile demonstration on moderate and heavy (30-150 trains per day) freight lines.
1991-1994 Burlington Northern
Participated in development of system wide operating and service plans for congestion elimination and service reliability.
2001 Seattle – Spokane Corridor/Intercity Service (Washington)
Feasibility study and preliminary schedules and infrastructure plan for new Seattle-Spokane passenger service on moderate traffic (5-25 trains per day) freight lines.
2000 Thurston County / Olympia Commuter Service (Washington)
Feasibility study and preliminary infrastructure requirements for light density commuter service on heavy traffic (40 trains per day) and branchline freight lines, and for reroute of mainline freight traffic to a secondary line to facilitate commuter service on the main line.
1999 San Juan de Aragon – Los Reyes Commuter Service (Mexico)
Feasibility study of minimal startup cost commuter service on light traffic freight line.
1998 Running Time Improvement Using Tilting Trains (Oregon, Washington, British Columbia)
Evaluate running time reduction with the use of tilting trains between Portland OR and Vancouver BC without infrastructure changes.
1991-1995 Burlington Northern Railroad
Feasibility study of commuter service on freight lines in Vancouver BC, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Denver.
Feasibility study for high speed passenger operation on freight lines between Portland OR and Vancouver BC and between Dallas TX and Houston TX.
2003 Sound Transit Operating and Infrastructure Evaluation (Tacoma WA)
Evaluate train operating practices on newly constructed line for commuter service and participate in evaluation of infrastructure condition.
2000 Chicago Planning Study (Illinois, Indiana)
Evaluate train dispatching and operating practices and relationship to congestion and delay.
1999 Johannesburg Metrorail (South Africa)
Analysis and evaluation of traffic control methods and equipment; develop operations control staffing for significant cost reduction.
1997 Seattle-Portland (Washington, Oregon)
Evaluate schedule performance for Seattle-Portland passenger service and recommend reliability improvements.
1997 Alaska Railroad (Anchorage, Alaska)
Evaluate train dispatching practices.
2000-2003 Everett (Washington)-Lakewood (Washington)
Evaluate Sound Transit Environmental Impact Statements for project effect on Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor program.
2002 LaJunta (Colorado)-Albuquerque (New Mexico), Seligman (Arizona)-Needles (California) superelevation changes
Evaluate the effect of reduction of superelevation, increase of unbalance and changes in speed limit on passenger trains.
1998-2000 Vancouver WA-Blaine WA tilting train speeds
Develop, test, and implement speed limit zones and operating instructions for high cant deficiency operation of Talgo trains.
1999 Raleigh-Durham Commuter Service (North Carolina)
Evaluate infrastructure and operating plan for Raleigh-Durham commuter service and recommend changes needed for reliable service.
1994 Houston (Texas)
Evaluate infrastructure and operating plan for Houston commuter service and recommend changes needed for reliable service and minimum effect on freight service.
2002 Seattle – Tacoma (Washington)
Schematic map of emergency access and evacuation routes, emergency contacts, emergency service agency boundaries along railroad, operating rules, and railroad physical characteristics.
2003 Port of Los Angeles (California)
Participated in timetable and operating rules development for Red Car Line
1998-current Team websites maintaining current documents, information, and contacts for projects
1997-current Transit Safety Management
Develop software for scheduling, crew management, and operations analysis.
1996-1997 Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
Participated in data conversion and accuracy checking, problem analysis, and troubleshooting for implementation of a new transportation MIS (Kansas City MO, Springfield MO, Birmingham AL, Willmar MN, Grand Forks ND, Missoula MT, Seattle WA).
1991-1995 Burlington Northern Railroad
Develop schedule planning software.
Participate in development of Computer Aided Train Dispatching, Computer Aided Crew Management, and Computer Aided Locomotive Distribution systems.
2002 Institute for Railway Systems Engineering (Germany)
Lecture on North American railroad operations
1996-1997 Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway TSS Implementation
Classroom and on the job training of transportation personnel using the new transportation MIS (Kansas City MO, Springfield MO, Birmingham AL, Willmar MN, Grand Forks ND, Missoula MT, Seattle WA).
1996, 1997 University of Washington
Lectures on railroad infrastructure for Global Trade and Logistics program
Elements of Train Dispatching Vol. 1
General railroad operations book
Elements of Train Dispatching Vol. 2 (Feb 2004)
Railroad operations planning and management book
International Heavy Haulage Association
2003 - Railroad operations planning and scheduling
Transportation Research Board
2001 - Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor infrastructure planning
2003 - Railroad operations planning and scheduling
2004 - Railroad operations planning and scheduling
1999 Johannesburg Metrorail (South Africa)
Negotiate work rule and staffing changes with labor organizations and with management.
1999-2000 Mexico City-Huehuetoca Commuter Railroad (Mexico)
Negotiate commuter service implementation and operating agreement with freight railroads.
1995 Seattle (Washington)
Negotiate agreement for commuter service preemption of navigation at the Ballard Drawbridge for demonstration commuter service program.
1991-1997 Burlington Northern Railroad [Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
Special assignment assistant chief dispatcher for system wide schedule and infrastructure planning, passenger service design and implementation, and operations support software design.
1976-1991 Burlington Northern Railroad [Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad]
Operator (Bellingham, Blaine, Sumas, MVB Station, Centralia, Delta Jct.), train dispatcher, assistant chief dispatcher (Seattle, Maple Valley, Tacoma, Spokane, Havre).
1974-1975 Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road)
Operator (Kent, Tacoma Jct., Cedar Falls, Bellingham)
1974 The Oakland Terminal Railroad / Alameda Belt Line Railroad
Clerk (Oakland, Alameda)
1972-1973 Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Train dispatcher, assistant chief dispatcher (Bakersfield)
1967-1972 Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad
Operator/towerman, train dispatcher, assistant chief dispatcher (Chicago)