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TO: Aurora City Council
FROM: Mayor Thomas J. Weisner
DATE: April 22, 2016
PURPOSE:
On March 15, 2016 the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released a proactive and forward-looking Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would institute minimum two-man crew size requirements for trains operating in the United States with certain enumerated exceptions for operations the FRA believes will pose minimal public safety risks. The FRA has become concerned that the railroads plan to phase in more operations that rely upon using only one crew member without properly considering and evaluating the risks associated with downsizing crew sizes. The FRA is seeking public comment about the proposed rules by May 16, 2016.
BACKGROUND:
Currently, the FRA does not regulate minimum train crew sizes, as it has long been an industry operating practice to staff trains with two (or more) crew members. With the advent of mandated technology advances like Positive Train Control (PTC), however, the FRA is learning that railroads are increasingly seeking to substitute technology for a second trained "failsafe" crew member aboard the nation's freight and passenger trains. Because there are many cognitive and manual functions undertaken by two crew members that cannot be accomplished by a combination of one crew member with the assistance of technology, the FRA is seeking to address any potential risk proactively before public safety is endangered by the widespread railroad adoption of one-crew member train operations that fail to achieve the same level of safety that is achieved through the use of two-person crews.
The NPRM contains two main provisions. The first provision establishes a general rule that each train operating in the country be assigned at least a two-person crew. The rule goes on to identify exceptions to this rule in various existing situations that the FRA considers low-risk, including for trains that are hauling less than 20 carloads of...
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