Commuter Rail Seat Tests in Open-Bay Configuration

Federal Railroad Administration2021PDFTech ReportZika, RyanShively, GregWood, JeremyYoung, JenniferMGA Research CorporationUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad AdministrationUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad AdministrationUnited StatesPassenger carsDynamic testsStructural analysisCrashworthinessSled testsRail (Railroads)PassengersPassenger seatsopen-bayfacing seatsstructural integrityoccupant safetyanthropomorphic test deviceATDrail passenger safetysecondaryDOT/FRA/ORD-22/16693JJ620C000019Gordon, JeffreyOctober 2020-July 2021Open-bay seating is a common configuration in U.S. passenger railcars. The current version of the American Public Transportation Association\u2019s safety standard on passenger seating (APTA PR-CS-S-016-99, Rev. 3) requires open-bay seats to be tested if more than 50 percent of a car\u2019s seating is configured as open-bay. The objective of this research study was to determine if existing seats developed for use in a row-to-row configuration would comply with the seat safety standard requirements in the open-bay configuration without any design modifications. Of the four seat types tested, only one satisfied all of the human injury criteria.133