Train event recorder


A train event recorder – also called On-Train Monitoring Recorder, On-Train Data Recorder, Event Recorder System, Event Recorder Unit, or Juridical Recording Unit – is a device that records data about the operation of train controls, the performance of the train in response to those controls, and the operation of associated control systems. It is similar in purpose to the flight data recorder or black box used on aircraft.

Functions

Because event recorders are integrated with most car-borne systems, they are an attractive target for enhanced diagnostic and control functions. Some event recorders feature outputs controlling penalty braking or emergency braking systems, as well as speedometers.
Data storage can be provided by magnetic tape, battery-backed RAM and, more recently, non-volatile EEPROM or flash memory, overwritten in a FIFO continuous loop. The data is intended for use in the investigation of accidents and other incidents, but is also used to monitor the performance of traction units, the competence of drivers, and the general state of a train over a period of time.

Development

A suggestion in The Times of 10 October 1853, commenting on a train collision near Portarlington station, on the Great Southern and Western Railway, on 5 October that year, called for a paper-roll recorder, keeping a log of wheel revolutions against time, to be carried in a locked box on trains, the record to be removed and stored by station masters at the destination station. In 1864, a similar proposal came from Charles Babbage, inspired by his 1840 experiments for the Great Western Railway using self-inking pens on paper rolls, which were part of the equipment carried on dynamometer cars. No action seems to have been taken in either case. The earliest event recorders were the mechanical "TEL" speed recorders of 1891, which recorded both time and speed. The TEL's manufacturer, Hasler Rail of Switzerland, remains a leading producer of train event recorders.
France developed the Flaman Speed Indicator and Recorder. In Germany, the Indusi train protection system included recording equipment using a ticker tape on paper. For I60R a generalized recorder system was installed that allowed for the entry of the train number, driver information and train weight, along with the driving events. The standardized DSK black box allows for approximately 30,000 km of general recording data and 90 km of detailed recording data. Later models of the DSK are electronic especially since the introduction of the computerized PZ80/PZB90 train protection generations.
Modern train event recorders follow international or national standards, such as IEEE Std. 1482.1-1999, FRA 49 CFR Part 229, and IEC 62625-1, specified the digital and analogue data to be acquired, recorded and transmitted for further analysis. The need for event recorders to survive any accident led companies such as Grinsty Rail, Faiveley, Hasler Rail, Bach-Simpson, Saira Electronics, and MIOS Elettronica to develop crash-protected memory modules as a part of their event recorders. Those new-generation event recorders are in growing demand both for rapid transit systems and mainline trains.

Regulations

Canada

Canadian regulations provide in the "Locomotives Design Requirements "

United States

U.S. regulations define event recorders as follows: :
The Federal Railroad Administrations "Final Rule 49 CFR Part 229", requires that event recorders be fitted to the leading locomotives of all US, Canadian and Mexican trains operating above on the US rail network including all freight, passenger and commuter rail locomotives but does not apply to transit running on its own dedicated tracks.
The new ruling applies to locomotives either ordered before Oct 1, 2006 or placed in service after Oct 1, 2009 and included:
  • Improved crash worthiness by means of a "hardened" memory module able to withstand:
  • *Fire resistance of 750 °C for 1 hour, this test simulates the temperature of burning diesel fuel
  • *Impact shock of 55 g 100ms
  • *Static crush of 110 kN for 5 minutes, this test simulates a locomotive derailment and blunt object impact
  • *Fluid immersion in Diesel, water, salt water or lube oils for 2 days
  • *Hydrostatic pressure equivalent to immersion to a depth of 15 m in water for 2 days
  • Recording of additional information to enhance the quality of information available for post-accident investigations including the following "safety-critical" signals:
  • *Speed
  • *Direction of travel
  • *Time
  • *Distance
  • *Throttle position
  • *Operation of brakes
  • *Status of Headlights and Marker Lights
  • *Operation of Horn
  • *Status of Cab signals
  • Store the last 48 hours of safety-critical train data. This is to prevent over-writing of the crash data if the loco is used for the subsequent "clean-up" of the crash scene.
  • The phasing out of the old magnetic tape models over a four-year period due to their vulnerability to data loss in the event of a crash.

United Kingdom and Ireland

All trains operating on Network Rail controlled infrastructure are required to be fitted with an event recorder complying with RIS-2472-RST-Iss-1, the standard also cross references with BS EN 62625-1:2013. Ireland has also adopted this regulation. RSSB is responsible for event recorder standards in the UK.
Crash protection requirements:
  • Fire resistance of 700 °C for 5 minutes
  • Impact shock of 100 g, three times on each of its six sides
  • Static crush of 20 kN for 1 minute, to all edges and faces
  • Fluid immersion in water, AFFF or R134A for 1 hour
  • Magnetic field produced by a current pulse of 0 to 64 kA, rising at 107 A/s, at a distance of 1 metre
The UK approach is similar to US requirements, but the list of required signals is more comprehensive. This reflects, in part, the prevalence of passenger trains and the inevitable possibility of incidents involving access doors.
Signals to be recorded include:

Switzerland

Speed recording equipment has been used by Swiss Federal Railways for many years.