Railroad shipping: Senate signs off on railroad safety legislation
Jeff Berman, Group News Editor -- Logistics Management, 10/2/2008
WASHINGTON—A week after the the United States House of Representatives approved legislation focused on improving safety for the nation’s railways, the bill was approved by the United States Senate yesterday.
The legislation, known as H.R. 2095, The Rail Safety and Improvement Act of 2008; the Senate version is S. 1889.
The legislation’s objective is to dramatically change several safety-related facets of daily railroad operations.
Some of the bill’s major items include:
- hours-of -service reform, which would reduce the amount of time train crews work in a 30-day timeframe from 400 hours to 276 hours, requiring that a signal employee cannot remain or go on duty without at least ten consecutive hour off duty during the previous 24 hours unless that employee has had at least one period of at least 24 consecutive hours off duty in the past 7 consecutive days;
- augmenting railroad employee training;
- increasing federal safety inspections;
- reducing “limbo time” or time spent traveling—or waiting to travel—to and from an employee’s duty’s station before or after working; and
- requiring states and railroads to report on how highway rail-grade crossings are being protected.
Another key component of this legislation is the mandate to require railroads to implement positive train control (PTC) systems, which are designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, overspeed derailments, and incursions into roadway worker work limits by 2015. The 2015 deadline is for passenger and certain hazmat rail lines and authorizes $250 million in Federal grants. For PTC installation, according to a statement from the office of Senator Frank Lautenberg, the bill’s lead Senate sponsor (the lead sponsor for the House is James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.). This is highly relevant in light of the September 12 collision between a freight train and a commuter train in Los Angeles.
The bill also reauthorizes the Federal Railroad Administration through 2013 and provides $1.6 billion for rail safety programs during that time, according to an Associated Press report.
Although the PTC requirement is well-intended, it is not without its challenges either, according to William J. Rennicke, director of Oliver Wyman, a Boston-based management consultancy.
In an August interview with LM, Rennicke said that for PTC systems to be implemented, the required costs will be in the billions.
“This is where the rubber meets the road, because it comes at a time when the railroads are trying to increase their throughput to meet the projected future freight volume increases in the coming years,” said Rennicke. “For this to be successful, he said it has to be handled properly so railroads are allowed to deploy new technology in the places that have the biggest bang for the buck, where railroads have a hand in determining where they are most needed.”
J.P. Morgan analyst Tom Wadewitz wrote in a research note that the revised Rail Safety Bill requires relatively early (December 31, 2015) implementation of positive train control by the US railroads on main-line track where passenger traffic or hazardous materials (TIH) are transported. He estimated that the cost for the industry will be on the order of $2-$3 billion to implement PTC.
Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said last week that the 2015 PTC deadline presents a challenge to the supply industry and the railroads, in terms of the scope of work remaining to be accomplished but is positive it can be accomplished.
“Nonetheless, the freight railroad industry is committed to doing everything it can to ensure that PTC is implemented effectively and safely,” said Hamberger. “We will work with the Federal Railroad Administration and our partners in the transit community, at Amtrak, our suppliers and our customers to implement the mandate.”
The Associated Press reported that this legislation would enact the first major updates to rail safety rules since passage of the Federal Railroad Safety Authorization Act of 1994, which expired in 1998. The Federal Railroad Administration has been operating under the expired law since that time.
This bill will now go to President George W. Bush to be signed into law.
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