(Bloomberg News circulated the following story by Angela Greiling Keane on January 7, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Passenger trains in the U.S. must be manufactured to better withstand collisions under a federal rule being published tomorrow that follows fatal accidents in New Jersey, Maryland and Indiana.
Railcar manufacturers including Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. and Alstom SA, based in Levallois-Perret, France, will have to meet the new standards for trains sold to Amtrak and U.S. commuter railroads.
The rule, which starts taking effect in March, requires stronger front-end frames on new passenger railcars and some locomotives to help prevent them from collapsing or telescoping on impact.
A 1996 crash between two New Jersey Transit trains killed both trains’ engineers and one passenger. The same year, a Maryland commuter train collided with an Amtrak train, killing three crew members and eight passengers. In 1993, near Gary, Indiana, a moving Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District train crashed into a stationary one at 32 miles per hour, killing seven people.