DOT 93-07
Contact: Steve Kulm
or Warren Flatau
Tel.: (202) 493-6024
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
FRA Proposed Rule Promotes Adoption of Advanced Train Braking Technology
To Improve Rail Safety and Efficiency
Advanced brake technology will enable locomotive engineers to significantly
improve train control and allow trains to safely travel longer distances between
required brake tests under new proposed federal rules, announced U.S.
Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters.
“Trains with better brakes mean safer railroad operations and improved rail
freight service,” said Secretary Peters, explaining that Electronically
Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brakes provide improved train control through
simultaneous and graduated application and release of the brakes on all rail
cars, a significant safety improvement over conventional air brake systems.
In addition, Secretary Peters noted that the proposed rule would permit a train
to travel up to 3,500 miles—more than double the current maximum
distance—between routine brake tests.
With ECP brakes, many long-haul trains can travel directly to their destinations
without stopping because the technology performs continual self-diagnostic ‘healthchecks,’
she said.
“The safety benefits of ECP brakes are obvious and they make good business sense
as well,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman.
Boardman said that, under the proposal, an intermodal container train equipped
with ECP brakes originating from West Coast ports could operate all the way to
Chicago without stopping for a routine brake test, as it must do now. Similarly,
many ECP brake-equipped coal trains could make quicker deliveries from western
coal fields to eastern and southern power plants because stopping for the
routine brake test would be unnecessary.
He added that ECP brakes can help avert some train derailments caused by sudden
emergency brake applications, prevent runaway trains caused by loss of brake air
pressure, shorten train stopping distances up to 60 percent under certain
circumstances, and improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions through better
train handling. He further noted that the first ECP brake-equipped train
operating under an approved waiver is expected to make its initial revenue
service run in September.
A copy of the proposed rule, published in today’s Federal Register, can be found
at: http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/321. Written comments may be submitted
until November 5, 2007 by accessing the U.S. Department of Transportation’s
Online Docket Management System web site at http://dms.dot.gov [Docket Number
FRA-2006-26175].