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Post Info TOPIC: FRA falls in line with thier owners; or FRA reaches end of it's choker...


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FRA falls in line with thier owners; or FRA reaches end of it's choker...
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https://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/FRA-withdraws-proposed-train-crew-staffing-rule--57649

The Federal Railroad Admibistration (FRA) has withdrawn its 2016 proposed rulemaking that called for federal regulation of train crew staffing.

The FRA determined that such regulation is unnecessary for railroad operations to be conducted safely "at this time," agency officials said yesterday in a rulemaking withdrawal notice. 

In deciding to withdraw the proposal, the FRA determined:
There is no direct safety connection between train-crew staffing and two rail incidents that occurred in 2013: the deadly rail disaster in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, and the oil train derailment and explosion in Casselton, North Dakota;
Rail safety data doesn't support a train-crew staffing rulemaking;
Comments made in response to the proposed rulemaking don't support such a rule;
A train-crew size mandated would unnecessarily impede the future of rail innovation and automation; and
The proposed rule's "withdrawal is an affirmative decision not to regulate with the intention to preempt state laws."

"Positive train control (PTC) new technologies designed to prevent certain types of human error and a top priority of the administration is one game-changer; others not yet imagined may follow. Allowing railroads the flexibility to adjust their operations to reflect the capabilities of technologies like PTC will help advance railroads mission to achieve an accident-free future," he said.

Jefferies added that train-crew staffing size has been a matter of collective bargaining between railroads and their employees for decades.

"Over that time, the safety of train operations has steadily improved even as crew sizes have been reduced, through the bargaining process, from five or more down to todays standard of two and in some cases, one," said Jefferies.

He added that yesterday's action by the FRA directs federal and state lawmakers "to stop pushing crew-size legislation and let the railroads maintain that record of bargaining with their ... workforce to continue to modernize rail operations while enhancing safety."

 

 



-- Edited by Calvin on Friday 24th of May 2019 09:41:37 AM

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Thought it was interesting that "TAW" started this thread on TO. I know and worked with TAW and he knows a lot of stuff.
When I started on the BN in 1973 yard jobs had 4-5 man crew and so did most trains. Today's 2-man crew seems a necessity
that no body should ever consider "less" than 2 persons. Responsibility same as flying commercial airplanes as the pilot and
co-pilot.


www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php

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I see that this issue more than any other will be the hardest fought in recent memory...If we have the backbone to fight in the first place!



-- Edited by jonnycantdo on Saturday 22nd of June 2019 05:06:04 AM

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