Safety Appliance Standards 

The American Public Transportation Association accepted a request from the Federal Railroad Administration to develop an industry standard for the location, dimensions, material and manner of attachment for safety appliances used on new rail passenger equipment.  Railroads, suppliers, rail labor and safety regulators have been invited to participate.  A consensus process will be used.  This standard will be patterned after similar industry standards developed by the Association of American Railroads for safety appliances used on new railroad freight cars. 

 For background, technical information, and draft work of the group please see the links below: 

• AAR Requirements For Freight Car Safety Appliances
  • Freight Car Safety Appliance Figure 1
  • Freight Car Safety Appliance Figure 2
  • Freight Car Safety Appliance Figure 3
  • Freight Car Safety Appliance Figure 4
• Appendix A--Safety Appliances For Box Cars And Other House Cars Without Roof Hatches
  • Figure A1
• Appendix B--Safety Appliances For Covered Hopper Cars And Other House Cars Without Roof Hatches
  • Figure B1
• Appendix C--Safety Appliances For Bulkhead Flat Cars
  • Figure C1
  • Figure C2
• Other AAR Documents
  • Request for Rulemaking Ltr dtd 8/31/05
  • End Platform Handhold Justification Drawing
  • Necessity for 5th End Handhold
  • AAR ACF Drawings
  • Improvement in Safety Provided by AAR Standard S-2044
  • Potential Deviations from FRA Part 231 Permitted by AAR Standard S-2044
• Other APTA Documents
  • Listing of  Existing Equipment w/Features that Do Not Comply with FRA Interpretation of Safety Appliance Regulations
  • Weld Inspection Intro
  • Weld Inspection Program
  • FRA Letter