Development of a Structural Specification for Crashworthy Rail Vehicles

Despite continuous improvements in active safety, train collisions still occur. Improved passive safety measures are therefore required to minimise injuries to passengers and crew when such collisions arise. Current European practice is to specify loads which must be sustained by the vehicle with no resulting deformation. In designing for dynamic resistance in collisions, a concept based on controlled energy absorption needs to be developed. This paper traces the development of such a concept and the testing undertaken to validate it. Controlled energy absorption is now a requirement for all new vehicles built to run on British Rail and should make a significant contribution to improved vehicle safety.