Federal Railroad Administration

Commentary

“Civil War-era” technology? You’re joking, right?

I’ve heard some pretty disingenuous (that’s a polite word for “dopey”) things said about railroads in my nearly 25 years at Railway Age. Nearly all of them have come from uninformed generalist reporters who are mostly clueless about what we do, how we do it, and the technology we employ—and that they don’t take the time to understand.

Commentary

While we’re waiting, Administrator Feinberg

While we’re waiting for the NTSB to analyze the event recorder data and forward-facing camera video on the NJ Transit cab car involved in the Sept. 29 Hoboken Terminal crash, assuming there is useable information (there is no data from the locomotive event recorder, because it was non-operational), let’s jump ahead a year or two and anticipate the conclusion of the NTSB’s investigation and the list of forthcoming recommendations.

Redefining medical fitness for duty

FRA-regulated railroads are the only U.S. transportation mode that do not have comprehensive, federally mandated medical fitness-for-duty standards and monitoring protocols. Only vision and hearing are covered by FRA regulations. That leaves railroads free to fashion standards and impose them, at will, on employees.

FRA’s quarterly PTC whip-cracking

A quarterly status update released Aug. 17, 2016 by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) “underscores the need for railroads to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) as quickly and safely as possible.” The update also “highlights the Administration’s repeated calls for Congress to provide more significant funding to assist commuter railroads in implementing PTC.”

ASLRRA receives DOT Technology Grant for PTC implementation

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) announced on August 16 that it has received a grant from FY2016 Railroad Safety Technology Grant Funds, made available through the Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration. The $2.5 million grant will support the development and implementation of a back-office product that delivers Positive Train Control (PTC). The product will be made available to all short line and regional railroads.

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