Railroad Safety

Following the issuing of a final rule by the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) earlier this month, establishing establishes minimum safety requirements for train crew sizes, with the new rule requiring a second crew member on all trains, four U.S.-based railroads are calling on federal appeals courts to toss out the rule, calling it “arbitrary, capricious, and an illegal abuse of discretion,” according to an Associated Press report.

NS officials said that should this agreement be approved by the court, it will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment.

FRA officials explained having a second crewmember provides various safety functions that are not able to be realized on a single-person crew. As an example, without the final rule, it noted how on a train with one crewmember, railroads could initiate single-crew operations and not perform a rigorous risk assessment, mitigate known risks or notify the FRA.

In freight railroad circles, the topic of safety is never far from top of mind. That was made clear on two fronts this week by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), in the form of railroad safety data it cited from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and an AAR white paper, entitled “Building a Safer Future: Examining Freight Rail’s Comprehensive Safety Network.”