FRA introduces Tier III passenger equipment safety standards

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Nov. 22 proposed updates for the passenger train safety standards used in the U.S. as the country looks to regional projects to add high-speed trains that can travel up to 220 mph and replace its aging passenger fleet.

The proposed updates represent nearly a decade of work by FRA’s passenger rail division and would establish a new category of passenger equipment, Tier III, for trains traveling up to 220 mph. The FRA says the updates would offer an alternative method for evaluating how well passengers and crews are protected in an accident, often called crashworthiness. The public, railroad industry, railroad labor, manufacturers and other stakeholders will have an opportunity to provide feedback and comment on the proposed rule during the next 60 days.

In addition to measuring a train’s crashworthiness based on whether it meets current prescriptive strength standards, the FRA says that “the proposed changes would allow a train’s crashworthiness to be evaluated based on it meeting an equivalent level of safety achieved through CEM (crash energy management) technology or other innovative engineering methods.”

Although Tier III trains will be required to have dedicated right-of-way to operate at speeds above 125 mph, the FRA says the new standards “will allow Tier III trains to safely share track with current Tier I and Tier II commuter, intercity, and Acela Express trains. Compatibility between equipment types is a key strategy to allow trains to share existing corridors to reach downtown stations.”