After nearly 10 years of working on the problem, the agency earlier this week proposed updates for the passenger train safety standards to upgrade the aging railcars by adding high-speed trains that can travel up to 220 miles per hour.

"As several regions of the United States build faster passenger rail service, the trains on those tracks must keep passengers safe," said Anthony Foxx, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the Federal Railroad Administration."To do that, we want to allow manufacturers to innovate and achieve all-new levels of safety. These proposed changes put us on track to do just that."

What the proposed updates cover

The proposed updates would establish a new category of passenger equipment, Tier III, for trains traveling up to 220 mph. The updates would offer an alternative method for evaluating "crashworthiness" — that is, the measure of how well passengers and crews are protected in an accident. The agency is seeking feedback and comment on the proposed rule from the public, railroad industry, railroad labor, manufacturers and other stakeholders during the next 60 days.

In addition to measuring a train's crashworthiness based on whether it meets current strength standards, a train's crashworthiness would be evaluated based on it meeting an equivalent level of safety achieved through crash energy management technology or other innovative engineering methods under the proposed regulations.

"We look forward to hearing from everyone on how this proposal can help our country build a stronger passenger rail network — one that is not only faster but allows for new technologies to make passenger trains even safer," said Sarah E. Feinberg, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.

Although Tier III trains will be required to have exclusive tracks to operate at speeds above 125 mph, the Federal Railroad Administration says the new standards will allow Tier III trains to safely share track with current Tier I and Tier II commuter, intercity and Acela trains. Compatibility between equipment types is a key strategy to allow trains to share existing corridors to reach downtown stations.

Note that these proposed regulations, which can be found at the Federal Railroad Administration's website, only address the safety of the passenger cars, not passengers themselves. For example, there is no mention of safety belts for passengers, and it's not yet clear whether closed overhead luggage racks will be required.

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