Authors: U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Railroad Administration

Date of Publication:  1999

Abstract:

By letter dated October 18, 1999, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) pursuant to 49 CFR §238.203(d), to permit use of five Talgo 1 articulated trainsets on three rail corridors: The Pacific Northwest Corridor between Eugene, Oregon, and Blaine, Washington via Portland and Seattle; the Southern California corridor between San Luis Obispo and San Diego via Los Angeles; and the corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada. FRA approval is required because the trainsets do not meet the required compressive strength of 800,000 pounds applied on the line of draft without permanent deformation of the body structure (49 CFR §238.203(a)). The petition is required to be submitted to the Associate Administrator for Safety and is processed as a request for "special approval."

The new Passenger Equipment Safety Standards (49 CFR Part 238) authorize continued use of equipment not meeting the compressive strength requirement (i.e., "grandfathering") only for equipment that was placed in revenue service on "a rail line or lines" before November 8, 1999, and for which a grandfathering petition is filed by that date. If the equipment was placed in service on any line before November 8, 1999, and a petitioner seeks to permit its use on a different line, a grandfathering petition covering that service is also required. Any petition is required to be accompanied by certain administrative details, information sufficient to describe the actual construction of the equipment, certain engineering analysis, a description of risk mitigation measures planned to decrease the likelihood of accidents involving the use of the equipment, and a quantitative risk assessment for each corridor. 49 CFR §238.203(d)(3). The regulation requires that the risk assessment demonstrate that use of the equipment on each corridor is "in the public interest and consistent with railroad safety."

FRA has received an unusually large number of filings in this docket, and several were quite extensive. A public hearing was held on July 21, 2000, at which testimony was received from nine persons representing Amtrak, Washington State Department of Transportation (WDOT), Talgo, the National Association of Railroad Passengers, the American Public Transportation Association, and Bombardier. FRA has considered the public comments in reaching this decision and expresses appreciation for the careful attention to detail reflected in the submissions, as well as the expressions of support for the Cascade service.

This decision authorizes continuation of Amtrak’s Cascade service on the Pacific
Northwest Corridor and addresses issues common to the three corridors in a manner intended to advance ultimate resolution of the petition as a whole. FRA determines that sufficient support has been provided for concluding that continued use of Talgo trainsets in revenue service on the Pacific Northwest Corridor is in the public interest and consistent with railroad safety, subject to certain conditions. FRA notes that additional information will be necessary to resolve the appropriateness of operating the Talgo equipment at speeds in excess of 79 miles per hour in the future (an issue not directly addressed in Amtrak’s petition). In addition, further information is required to decide the request for grandfathering as applied to the other two corridors.
 

No. of Pages:   265