AS 7520.3 Rolling Stock Body Structural Requirements – Part 3: Passenger

The objective of this document is to describe requirements for the structural strength of railway passenger rolling stock including crew cars.

The main purpose of the requirements are to:

1. prescribe the minimum structural integrity levels of the vehicle body to ensure safe performance under the operating conditions that the rolling stock will be subject to; and
2. minimise risks to persons (including train crew, train passengers and persons external to the train) and damage to railway infrastructure and other rolling stock in the event of collisions or derailments.

This document is intended to compliment the rolling stock compliance certification process outlined in AS 7501, including all vehicle types such as new, modified and heritage rolling stock.

The document has been significantly amended from the previous version with major changes throughout the document. It is recommended a thorough comprehensive review is undertaken for any users of the current version that will be applying this new revision of AS 7520.3.

This Standard has undergone a major review, with significant changes throughout the document. Key changes include:

• Requirements for the inclusion of human factors in the procurement and design process.
• Increased requirements on manufacturers to provide detailed reports on design concepts and structural connections.
• Inclusion of crew car requirements.
• Updated structural load ratings.

The updated standard aims to influence future designs of passenger and crew cars by:

• Specifically detailing requirements for passenger and crew car structures to maintain structural integrity during incidents.
• Improving the survivability of passengers and train crew during and after an incident.
• Updating crashworthiness requirements primarily for rollover events or level crossing incidents.

The Standard helps manage several critical risks including:

1. Harm to passengers
2. Harm to train crew
3. Harm to rolling stock
4. Derailment incidents
5. Collision events

A systematic approach is recommended:

1. Review AS 7520.3 against your internal applicable standards.
2. Review existing contemporary or under-development rolling stock designs for use by your organisation.
3. Identify common areas and variances between standards.
4. Where commonality exists, use your organisation’s change management process to update requirements to reference AS 7520.3
5. Where variances occur, assess whether AS 7520.3 provides better safety and/or interoperability outcomes against your organisation’s risk profile and SFAIRP argument.
6. If AS 7520.3 results in improved outcomes, amend organisational standards to reference AS 7520.3
7. If your internal standards provide better outcomes, you may still reference AS 7520.3 but include a derogation or deviation statement within your organisation’s standards.