Study of fire protection measures for railcars

In recent years the number of fire incidents caused by combustion and smoke generation in railcars is on the decrease in Japan, which is a result brought about by advance of technologies for making the different kinds of materials used in cars incombustible and flame retardant as well as modernization of the car systems by adoption of control systems with a small number of heat generating devices which use many semiconductors. In order to quantitatively grasp the safety for confirmation as to the fire protection measures for the railcars using these new systems and materials, the research committee made a study over a two-year period, which included investigations of the railcar fires in the past and relevant laws regulations and rules both at home and abroad, combustion tests of an actual car and evaluation of the safety.