Talk:Emergency brake (train)

Removing claim of "popular" for electric handbrake until someone substantiates the claim. At the moment it reads like commercial promotionary material.

Explanation of "good reason"
I have never understood why trains have these emergency brakes - could anyone who knows a valid reason for pulling one add that as an example? I just can't picture what the benefit of attempting to suddenly stop a TGV travelling at 300kph would be. No passenger could possibly hope to avoid hitting something on the track (the driver would know more than he in any case), and in any case the stopping distance is still so great that you would end up a long way from where you actually pulled it. So if anyone has any clues, please add them. Stevage 14:44, 26 May 2006 (UTC)


 * There have been one or two cases in Britain where part of a train has become derailed unbeknown to the driver, and the train has carried on until the passenger operated the e-brake. Another use would be another member of the crew noticing a hot box. I haven't worked these into the article just yet, though! Goose 20:25, 6 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Something trapped in the doors (especially clothing of someone standing on the platform, too close to the train)
 * Faulty door opening while the train is moving.
 * Fire.
 * Something entering the carriage (a broken wheel rim caused a crash that could have been averted if the passenger noticing it sticking into the train from underneath had activated the brake, I think this was in Germany) ƕ (talk) 16:00, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Split Article
This article really needs to be split into an automotive section, and a trains section, with the train section being expanded.''' Im sorry I cant explain what you guys really want to hear this page is a peice of horse **** It wont even tell you anything!!!!!!!! Im sorry you've just wasted all this time reading about trains rather than what you need to hear about fucking CARS!!! Sincerely, an anrgy fucking reader.

203.37.160.19 03:37, 28 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree, and I propose to move the train section to Train alarm. Trains (at least in the UK) don't have emergency brakes.  The train alarm activates the normal air or vacuum brakes. Biscuittin 18:30, 6 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Trains in the UK do have emergency brakes, see here, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Davis_Metcalfe_Brake_Handle.jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by 45.72.142.251 (talk) 02:05, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

I have separated the road and rail vehicle articles and made Emergency brake into a disambig page. I think this improves clarity. Biscuittin (talk) 11:22, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Merge proposal
The Chain pulling article should be merged into this article and its Indian-centric contents made more country-neutral. Astronaut (talk) 19:50, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Mechanism section
Note: The section on Mechanism has been copied verbatim from the IRFCA site by me. The webmaster has given wikipedia blanket permission to copy any text from that site as long as it is properly credited. Contact me for details in case of verification. Regards, =Nichalp   «Talk»=  15:22, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

Emergency braking
My understanding (as in the article, "stop the train as quickly as possible") has been challenged by GE staff. He stated (and demonstrated it with wetted rails) that the wheels of "his" loco (the GE Euroloco under development) would not slide. "Perhaps with US braking parameters —probably not— but definitely not with European parameters."

I then looked it up in the ERTMS/ETCS Glossary (Subset-023) where EMERGENCY BRAKING is defined as Application of a predefined brake force in the shortest time in order to stop the train with a defined level of brake performance.

-- Rainald62 (talk) 22:40, 29 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Perhaps it is a case of "the wood for the trees" ? Neither of the above statements contradict the fact that the Emergency Brake....is the Brake for use in Emergencies. The maximum braking force of any loco/train is set empirically; too high and the train will loose traction (and therefore braking effect), too low and time/distance will be wasted. This adhesion of the railhead varies with a number of factors, such as the time of year and weather conditions, and a compromise has often to be chosen when setting up the train's brakes. Some trains out there have very clever traction control systems which adjust to the conditions, whilst other (legacy) trains are really very crude and just 'drop the lot'.


 * However the whole philosophy of the railway is that a stationary train is a safe train, and the Emergency Brake is there to bring that about as quickly as possible. Dr Sludge (talk) 07:16, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Seems ok. Dr Sludge (talk) 03:59, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

"Dumping a train" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Dumping a train and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 April 20 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. signed,Rosguill talk 20:59, 20 April 2022 (UTC)