FRA 23-07
Contact: Steve Kulm or Warren Flatau
Tel.: (202) 493-6024
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Nation’s First Freight Train Equipped with New, Safer Brake Technology Begins
Operations
The first train fully equipped with electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP)
brake technology began hauling coal today in southwestern Pennsylvania under a
waiver approved by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), announced
Administrator Joseph H. Boardman.
Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) is the first railroad to operate revenue service
trains equipped with ECP brakes under the waiver, Boardman said. BNSF Railway
also received waiver approval and is expected to operate trains with the new,
safer brake technology before the end of 2007.
“These railroads understand using ECP brake technology can bring significant
safety and business benefits, and I encourage other railroads to follow their
lead,” Boardman said.
In contrast to conventional air brake systems, which operate sequentially from
one rail car to the next, ECP technology applies the brakes uniformly and
instantaneously on every rail car in a train, Boardman explained. ECP brakes
lead to better train control, shorter stopping distances and a lower risk of
derailments.
The FRA waiver allows NS and BNSF trains equipped with ECP brakes to safely
travel up to 3,500 miles—more than double the current maximum distance—with
fewer stops for routine brake inspections then currently required by federal
regulations, Boardman stated. Since ECP brake technology provides continual
electronic self-diagnostic system checks that inform train crews when
maintenance is required, the need to stop for routine brake tests becomes
unnecessary, he said. And, in September, FRA issued a proposed rule based on the
provisions of the waiver designed to further promote the deployment of ECP
brakes on more trains.
Boardman said that an intermodal container train equipped with ECP brakes
originating from a West Coast port could operate all the way to Chicago without
stopping, except for refueling and crew changes. Similarly, ECP brake-equipped
coal trains are expected to make quicker deliveries from western coal fields to
eastern and southern power plants because stopping for routine brake tests would
be unnecessary.
To further ensure the safety of ECP-equipped trains, the waiver and proposed
rule include several conditions such as requirements that the railroad clearly
define a process for rectifying brake problems discovered en route; ensuring
that ECP brake inspections are only performed by qualified mechanical
inspectors; and providing appropriate training to train crew members.
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