Government denies railroads’ joint request to operate without PTC technology

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Monday denied a joint request from five railroads for a special waiver to run their trains free from the oversight of the mandated safety technology Positive Train Control (PTC).

The host railroads — Class I carriers BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern Railway, as well as passenger carriers Caltrain, New Mexico Rail Runner Express, and the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority — jointly submitted the request in July to the FRA, asserting it was necessary because of the regulatory gaps created by the expiration of an item under Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Specifically, the expired regulatory provision previously permitted any train to continue operating subject to certain speed limits and other restrictions under Title 49 CFR if a PTC system failed to initialize for any reason prior to the train’s departure from the initial terminal, according to the Aug. 26 letter sent to the railroads by FRA Office of Railroad Systems and Technology Director  Carolyn Hayward-Williams.

So, in essence, the five railroads July 11 requested FRA’s approval “to operate on PTC-mandated main lines even when their trains’ PTC systems fail to initialize,” Hayward-Williams wrote.

“After careful consideration of the applicability and sufficiency of the joint [request], FRA hereby denies [it] without prejudice… for multiple reasons,” added the director.

Among those reasons, according to the letter, is that the joint request “is overly broad and indefinite.” Thus far, she said the FRA has approved requests that seek to temporarily disable or discontinue a PTC system, during which train movements may continue on a case-by-case basis, only where the relevant facts and circumstances, including the scope of the outage and impacted locations, are outlined in the request.

Additionally, the proposal in the joint request is not necessary in several of the cases it identifies. For example, the joint request often points to the possibility of emergencies or catastrophic occurrences where the PTC system would be disabled or discontinued, including natural disasters.

“FRA’s existing regulations under 49 CFR… state that a railroad does not need to submit [a request] or obtain FRA’s approval to disable or discontinue its PTC system for a period not to exceed six months if that is necessitated by catastrophic occurrence, such as derailment, flood, fire, hurricane, or earthquake,” wrote Hayward-Williams.

She also pointed out that the FRA is already in the process of initiating a rulemaking that would address the joint request’s stated concerns about the expiration of 49 CFR. The railroads did acknowledge that fact in their request.

The FRA-denied request is a win for SMART-TD, the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen, the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, which all opposed it.

“Our opposition was grounded in a commitment to protect our members and the public from the risks associated with operating trains without PTC,” said Greg Hynes, national legislative director for SMART-TD, the Transportation Division of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers union.

“The FRA’s denial of this waiver request is a victory for rail safety and underscores the importance of adhering to established safety protocols,” Hynes added.

According to SMART-TD, railroads often request waivers to regulations that protect the communities through which they operate, but that can impact their operating expenses, such as, in this case, the expense of keeping critical safety technology in good working order.

Such waivers, said the group, is one strategy the railroads employ to undermine the regulations they perceive as burdensome; despite the positive impacts the rules have on public and worker safety.

“SMART-TD will continue to be a vigilant watchdog in the FRA’s public comment process,” said Jared Cassity, SMART-TD’s alternate legislative director. “We are dedicated to ensuring that safety regulations are not compromised and that our members work in environments where safety is not negotiable.”

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