Since the nineteenth century and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the railway industry has been an integral part of America’s economic growth and maturation. Commuters and tourists use today’s rails for business and personal travel, and thousands of tons of commercial trade are transported everyday by freight trains. Thousands of miles of track cross the continental United States, and the rail industry collectively garners over twenty billion dollars in sales every year.

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With all the growth the railroad industry has experienced since the nineteenth century, railroad safety development has all but reached a stand still, leaving decades old technology inadequately attempting to protect people at railroad crossings.