Fire safety in railway vehicles

Fire safety in railway vehicles is important for passengers, staff and material assets. By using materials with good fire properties, the risk of fire and the spread of smoke and flames is reduced. RISE tests and evaluates materials and products in trains, metro and trams to ensure that they meet current requirements for fire safety.

What does fire safety in railway vehicles mean?

Fire safety in railway vehicles focuses on preventing and limiting the effects of fires in rail vehicles such as high-speed trains, commuter trains, metro and trams. Using materials with good fire properties, design that minimizes fire risks and a well-functioning fire protection system improves fire safety.

Evaluation of fire safety in railway vehicles

To evaluate fire safety in railway vehicles, fire dynamic testing and fire resistance testing are combined. This, together with advanced fire research, leads to the development of more fireproof materials and structures.

RISE contributes to the standardization work for railway vehicles

RISE works actively with the standardization of fire safety requirements through our participation in SIS Technical Committee 254 - Railways, Metro and Tramways. We are working on fire safety in railway vehicles according to the EN 45545 standard series through our participation as an expert in CEN/TC 256/WG 01 "Fire Protection". We also contribute with expertise in ISO/TC 269/WG6.

Fire safety database for materials and products according to EN 45545-2 and EN 45545-3

Are you looking for information about approved materials and products? Then you can search the Rolling Stock Materials database, where companies have listed fireproof materials and products approved according to EN 45545-2 or EN 45545-3.

Fire safety tests for railway vehicles

With us, you can perform fire dynamic testing in accordance with EN 45545-2. Materials and products are divided into different requirement sets (R-sets) together with criteria for approval (HL level). The HL level that applies depends on the type of vehicle on which the material or product is installed. Furthermore, we perform testing in accordance with EN 45545-3, which refers to fire resistance testing of walls, floors, electronic cabinets and more. We also offer ad-hoc testing of everything from small components to complete vehicles. You will find links for test methods on the right-hand side of this page.

Research fire safety in railway vehicles

RISE is leading the development of fire safety forward. We participate in research projects, both nationally and internationally, and results from our research have influenced both test procedures and fire safety requirements in railway vehicles and infrastructure. Within the EU projects FIRESTARR and TRANSFEU, we contributed to the development of the EN 45545 series of test standards through our expertise in fire engineering and the measurement of toxic combustion gases.

RISE has contributed to fire safety in both composite materials and tunnels

RISE has also made a strong contribution to developing fireproof composite materials for railway vehicles within the EU projects FireResist and most recently Mat4Rail. In these projects, new composite materials were developed to meet high fire requirements, while at the same time meeting requirements for mechanical properties. In the field of infrastructure, our work in the national METRO project led to the development of new, important knowledge about fire safety in tunnels for trains and trams.

Do you want to know more about fire safety in railway vehicles? Please feel free to contact us. You find contact details below.