Thursday, June 30, 2005 (Washington, DC) Train “black box” data and information will be better safeguarded for use in accident investigations as a result of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) final rule requiring improvements in the crash survivability of locomotive event recorders.

Under the rule, event recorders will be hardened to prevent the loss of data from exposure to fire, impact shock, fluid immersion, and other potential damage resulting from train accidents. New data required to be captured includes horn activation, cruise control functions and train control operating directives sent to the engineer’s onboard display. Currently, locomotive event recorders capture such information as train speed, use of automatic air brakes, throttle position and cab signal indications.

“We are making sure that investigators have more and better information available when working to find the cause of an accident,” said FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman. “The more we can learn from train accidents, the more we can prevent them from occurring.”

The rule gives railroads four years to replace older-style event recorders that use magnetic tape to store data with new electronic memory modules. The rule also requires railroads to improve inspection, testing and maintenance procedures.

The rule requires railroads to keep data stored on event recorders involved in accidents for one year, up from the current 30-day requirement. This will allow federal accident investigators greater flexibility in reviewing data, even if no immediate accident investigation is undertaken.

The rule directly supports FRA’s new National Rail Safety Action Plan to improve safety across the nation’s railroad system, and addresses six outstanding rail safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board resulting from several previous major accident investigations.

The final rule, published in today’s Federal Register was developed under the auspices of FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC). The final rule is available on the FRA’s web site at www.fra.dot.gov and in docket number FRA-2003-16357 at http://dms.dot.gov .

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Click here to view the final rule