The Texas Railway Analysis & Innovation Node (TRAIN) is a team of faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students dedicated to advancing railway operational efficiency, performance reliability, and safety through railroad engineering and transportation research, education and outreach at the University of Texas at Austin.
We are looking for self-motivated PhD, MS, and Undergraduate students to join us! If you are interested in learning more about research opportunities with the TRAIN lab, please email Dr. Dick with your CV and research interests!
TRAIN Faculty
 |
C. Tyler Dick |
| Assistant Professor, Ph.D., P.E. | |
| ctdick@utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, 1999
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001 Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019 |
|
| Dr. Dick joined UT Austin in Fall 2022 where he leads the TRAIN lab. His current research interests include railway mainline, yard and terminal capacity, design and interaction, railroad network operations and performance resiliency, operations potential of advanced railway traffic control systems with virtual and moving blocks, railway energy efficiency and alternative energy locomotives, technology-assisted train operations and self-propelled autonomous railcars, predictive analytics for operations and maintenance planning, and safety of rail operations and hazardous materials transportation. |
Doctoral Students
 |
Rydell Walthall |
| rwalthall@utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 MPAff, Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, 2019 M.S., Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2019 |
|
| Rydell joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2023. His current research interests include rail electrification, transportation economics, and transportation emissions mitigation. |
 |
Diwen (Steven) Shi |
| diwenshi@utmail.utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021 |
Steven joined Dr. Dick’s team in Spring 2021. His current research interests include railway mainline operation, transportation emissions mitigation, traffic forecast, resource allocation and multi-modal operations. |
 |
Qianqian Tong |
| qianqian_tong@utexas.edu | |
| B.E., Transportation Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, 2023 | |
| Qianqian joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2023. Her current research focuses on simulating intermodal terminals, optimizing multi-modal networks, and developing models for mitigating transportation emissions. |
 |
Heyang Zhang |
| maxzhang@my.utexas.edu | |
| B.E., Transportation Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, 2022 MSc., Urban Design and Transport, The University of Hong Kong, 2024 |
|
| Heyang joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2025. His current research interests focus on optimizing transportation networks and developing efficient freight transportation models. |
Masters Students
 |
Matthew Friar |
| matthew.friar@utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024 | |
| Matthew joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2024. His current research interests include ridership and performance of intercity and commuter passenger rail. |
 |
Juliana Johnson |
| jj44643@my.utexas.edu | |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, Iowa State University, 2025 | |
| Juliana joined Dr. Dick’s team in Fall 2025. Her current research interests focus on simulations of shared corridor reliability and performance. |
Alumni
 |
Jiaxi Zhao |
| B.S., Transportation Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, 2019
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020 Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2024 |
|
 |
Matt Parkes |
| B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021
M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2024 |
|
 |
Jiakai Yuan |
| B.A., English, Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, 2021
M.S., Marketing, University of Florida, 2022 M.S., Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2025 |
|
 |
Wang Shi |
| B.E., Traffic Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, 2021
M.S., Railway Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2023 M.S., Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2025 |
|