C.F.R. » Title 49 » CHAPTER II—FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › PART 238—PASSENGER EQUIPMENT SAFETY STANDARDS › Subpart E—Specific Requirements for Tier II Passenger Equipment

49 C.F.R. § 238.403

Crash energy management

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(a) Each power car and trailer car shall be designed with a crash energy management system to dissipate kinetic energy during a collision. The crash energy management system shall provide a controlled deformation and collapse of designated sections within the unoccupied volumes to absorb collision energy and to reduce the decelerations on passengers and crewmembers resulting from dynamic forces transmitted to occupied volumes.

(b) The design of each unit shall consist of an occupied volume located between two normally unoccupied volumes. Where practical, sections within the unoccupied volumes shall be designed to be structurally weaker than the occupied volume. During a collision, the designated sections within the unoccupied volumes shall start to deform and eventually collapse in a controlled fashion to dissipate energy before any structural damage occurs to the occupied volume.

(c) At a minimum, each Tier II passenger train shall be designed to meet the following requirements:

(1) Thirteen megajoules (MJ) shall be absorbed at each end of the train through the controlled crushing of unoccupied volumes, and of this amount a minimum of 5 MJ shall be absorbed ahead of the operator's cab in each power car;

(2) A minimum of an additional 3 MJ shall be absorbed by the power car structure between the operator's cab and the first trailer car; and

(3) The end of the first trailer car adjacent to each power car shall absorb a minimum of 5 MJ through controlled crushing.

(d) For a 30-mph collision of a Tier II passenger train on tangent, level track with an identical stationary train:

(1) When seated anywhere in a trailer car, the velocity at which a 50th-percentile adult male contacts the seat back ahead of him shall not exceed 25 mph; and

(2) The deceleration of the occupied volumes of each trailer car shall not exceed 8g. For the purpose of demonstrating compliance with this paragraph, deceleration measurements may be processed through a low-pass filter having a bandwidth of 50 Hz.

(e) Compliance with paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section shall be demonstrated by analysis using a dynamic collision computer model. For the purpose of demonstrating compliance, the following assumptions shall be made:

(1) The train remains upright, in line, and with all wheels on the track throughout the collision; and

(2) Resistance to structural crushing follows the force-versus-displacement relationship determined during the structural analysis required as part of the design of the train.

(f) Passenger seating shall not be permitted in the leading unit of a Tier II passenger train.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2008–2008 · leading case: S. California Reg'l Rail Auth. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles Cnty., 163 Cal. App. 4th 712 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008).
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S. California Reg'l Rail Auth. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles Cnty., 163 Cal. App. 4th 712 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 3× “( 49 C.F.R. § 238.403 (f) (2007).) c. Crash energy management design and mandatory system safety plans applicable only to Tier II passenger service.”
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