David Tyrell of US DOT will be discussing the work of the Task Force at the Annual Meeting on January 13, 2009
Proposed Task Force
The Engineering Task Force reports to the Passenger Safety Working Group of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee.
Mission - The mission of the Task Force is to produce a set of technical evaluation criteria and procedures for passenger rail equipment built to alternative designs. The technical evaluation criteria and procedures would provide a means of establishing whether an alternative design would result in performance at least equal to the structural design standards set forth in the Passenger Equipment Safety Standards (49 CFR Part 238). The initial focus of this effort will be on Tier I standards.
When completed, the criteria and procedures would form a technical basis for making determinations concerning equivalent safety pursuant to 49 CFR § 238.201 and provide a technical framework for presenting evidence to FRA in support of any request for waiver of the compressive (buff) strength requirement set forth in 49 CFR § 238.203. See, generally, 49 CFR Part 211 (Rules of Practice). The criteria and procedures could be incorporated into Part 238 at a later date after notice and opportunity for public comment.
Approach - The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), with support from the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, has been reviewing and comparing the performance of domestic, conventional equipment with equipment designed to international standards in evaluating requests, both current and anticipated, for waivers or rules of particular applicability for the use of passenger equipment not compliant with FRA’s structural standards. Based in part on knowledge gained from this effort and similar evaluations conducted at least over the past ten years since Part 238 was promulgated, FRA will present a strawman technical proposal as a starting point for the Task Force. This initial strawman will be heavily influenced by current state-of-the art research results as well as established, international performance standards. The Task Force should either confirm or modify each of the technical and the design verification requirements proposed in the strawman to better meet the goals outlined below.
The Task Force will convene as many times as necessary over an approximate 60-day period to transform the FRA strawman into consensus-recommended engineering criteria and procedures to which petitioners and FRA can refer.
Goals - The Task Force will strive to meet the following goals:
Ø Benefit from the collective “best” thinking in the passenger rail industry
Ø Produce clear, realistic technical requirements for demonstrating performance equivalent to that expected of equipment built to structural requirements set forth in the regulations
Ø Define the analyses and testing required to demonstrate the integrity of any specific design
Ø Provide clear pass/fail criteria for analyses and tests
Ø Work expeditiously so that sponsors of potential passenger service recognize available equipment options
It is not intended that the Task Force attempt to identify every possible means of determining the performance of alternative designs, nor does FRA anticipate that availability of technical criteria and procedures will eliminate the need to apply sound engineering judgment in reviewing requests for special approvals or waivers. However, it is anticipated that availability of technical criteria and procedures could substantially reduce the uncertainty associated with demonstrating alternative compliance/equivalent safety.
Task Force Membership - Task Force membership is open to designated representatives of RSAC member organizations participating in the Passenger Safety Working Group. FRA encourages participation through one of those organizations by:
Ø any car builder with capability to produce vehicles that will meet the proposed criteria, including those builders that can meet the current standards and any railroad or public authority that may procure new, alternatively-designed equipment
Ø any consultant with extensive passenger rail car structural design experience; and
Ø others who are valuable to the success of the Task Force, specifically including rail labor representatives
The focus of this effort will be the derivation of technical criteria suitable for determination of equivalent safety against existing standards. Accordingly, Task Force members will continue to be expected to apply engineering principles neutrally and professionally.
Presented to the Passenger Safety Working Group: August 5, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment