Federal Railroad Hours Of Service Proposed In Bill Before Congress

Washington, DC - A rail safety reauthorization bill submitted to the Congress on Feb. 14 would allow the Federal Railroad Administration to govern railroad workers' hours of service for the first time.

"We must embrace new methods and strategies to further reduce the number of accidents in the rail industry," FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman said as he announced the bill's details. "Railroads must be more accountable for the safety of their operations, and rail employees need work schedules that reduce fatigue and promote safety." The bill will reauthorize the federal rail safety program through 2011.

Boardman said FRA's proposal will replace railroad hours of service laws, first enacted in 1907, with comprehensive, scientifically based regulations. This change would put FRA in the same position as other DOT agencies in setting on-duty and/or minimum off-duty hours for train crews, dispatchers, and signal maintainers. The bill says the FRA Railroad Safety Advisory Committee would develop recommendations within two years on new hours of service limits.

The full text of the bill is available at www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/48. It includes a requirement for states and railroads to update the National Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Inventory regularly to ensure current information is available for hazard analysis in determining where federal safety improvement funding is directed, and it would expand FRA's authority to disqualify someone from a safety-sensitive job for violating federal rules on transporting hazardous materials.

SOURCE: FRA