Well, again, this may be a case of people making statements that don't exactly match the facts (regarding the train being built like a tank).

Yes, there are differences in the European and U.S. standards for passenger cars. However, on the whole it has yet to be proven that the European cars are less safe in the long run.

The U.S. standards focus on rigidity. The European standards focus on crumple zones at the ends of the cars that can absorb some of the impact.

(Consider the fact that early race cars, particularly open-wheel Formula 1 and Indy type -- were once built as rigid as possible. But, now, the thinking is that parts of the car should be able to crumple to absorb energy -- as long as the driver is within a rigid core of the car)

If you have an absolutely rigid passenger rail car that is very heavy, you (1) have much more inertia in the car, and (2) when the car hits an obstruction, the car comes to a sudden stop and everything within it continues to travel. This is where you get a lot of the injuries.

And, of course, there are a few catastrophic accidents where the details of car design make very little difference.

Keep in mind that there are many possible types of railroad accidents, and no one solution would be optimal in all cases.

It is my understanding that one of the things that helped reduced the severity of the accident in the UK is that the Pendolino cars remained coupled even after they derailed -- and that the tilt mechanism built into the cars may have absorbed ome of the impact energy.

While I don't know for sure, I would assume that Pendolino trainsets do not have the standard UIC European buffer and screw-link couplings. Rather, I would think they probably have Scharfenberg-type couplers -- a heavier-duty version of the transit couplers that not only join the cars but also connect air and electrical lines. From the photos I have seen, the Pendolino is not articulated like the Talgo. On the Pendolino, each car has its own two sets of trucks.

-- Ernest