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The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has followed through on last year’s promise to issue a rulemaking in 2007 that proposes to revise federal brake system safety standards and encourage railroads to deploy Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brake systems.

The FRA recently issued a proposed ECP rule, which the Federal Register published yesterday. The FRA will accept written comments on the rulemaking until Nov. 5.

The rule would enable locomotive engineers to use the braking system to improve train control, prevent derailments caused by sudden emergency brake applications and runaway trains caused by loss of brake air pressure, shorten train stopping distances up to 60 percent and improve fuel efficiency, the FRA said.

ECP brakes are applied uniformly on every rail car throughout a train instead; conventional air brakes are applied on cars sequentially. An ECP system gradually applies and releases brakes to improve train control, and can perform continual electronic self-diagnostic brake checks to identify maintenance needs.

The proposed rule would permit a train to travel up to 3,500 miles between routine brake tests, or more than double the current maximum distance.

“The safety benefits of ECP brakes are obvious and they make good business sense as well,” said FRA Administrator Joseph Boardman in a prepared statement.

In March, the FRA issued waivers to BNSF Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Railway to begin testing ECP brakes in revenue service. The initial trial run will occur later this month, says Boardman.