A Detrainment device is equipment on a rail vehicle that provides an evacuation route for the passengers. It usually consists of a set of steps or a ramp, located at a doorway, allowing passengers to leave the vehicle in an emergency, vehicle breakdown or accident.
Contents
A detrainment device is moved from a stored location into an operational position, usually above the coupler at the end of a passenger car. A detrainment device may consist of a manually placed, hinged, foldable or telescopic ladder or ramp. A detrainment device may allow evacuation to track level, or to a coupled railcar. A detrainment device may be fitted with handrails.
In other cases, evacuation may be via the vehicle passenger side doors to a trackside walkway in a tunnel, without the use of a detrainment device.
Types
Examples of the main types of detrainment device currently in service include:
a) Steps, stored loose inside the driver’s cab or the passenger saloon
b) Hinged steps, stored inside the driver’s cab or the passenger saloon
c) Steps, folding, hinging or sliding out from the doorway
d) Ramp, sliding out from below the doorway
e) Ramp, folding out from the doorway
f) Tensioned Fabric ramp, deploying from the doorway
Performance
User trials on prototype equipment in controlled conditions have indicated that a wide detrainment ramp will allow the evacuation of 2500 passengers in 28 minutes if the ramp, its handrails and the cab and saloon throughways are correctly specified. Modern detrainment step systems can detrain one person every two seconds.