Train Safety for Europe - Rail Vehicle Design and Occupant
Protection
The second project (SAFETRAIN) built on the previous results, with
the objective to devise standards for vehicle construction to improve
crashworthiness and occupant survivability. Until recently safety standards for rail
vehicles were defined in terms of static deformation resistance. Now the emphasis must be
switched to energy absorption zones designed to collapse in a collision and limit
deceleration rates to survivable levels. The main principles of the project were to:
- provide collapsible zones capable of absorbing collision energy in accidents
- avoid vehicle over-riding
- limit accelerations to passengers and provide additional protection to staff at the ends
of the trains
CIC's participation involved:
- reviewing Europe-wide collision data to determine an appropriate deceleration signal
characterising survivable accidents
- reviewing passenger biomechanical tolerances and proposing criteria for passenger injury
level assessment
- mathematical simulations with different seating configurations to assess the
consequences for passenger injuries
Conclusions from the simulations included:
- uni-directional seating was the safest in terms of passenger injuries
- facing seats promoted higher injury indices than uni-directional seating
- tray or floor/wall mounted tables introduced the danger of abdomnial and pelvic injury
inducing loadings
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