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The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would clarify certain requirements of existing emergency preparedness standards for passenger trains and address issues that have arisen since the regulations were issued in May 1998.

The rulemaking would ensure that railroad personnel who communicate and coordinate with first responders during emergency situations receive initial and periodic training and are subject to operational efficiency tests and inspections.

The revised regulation also would clarify that railroads must develop procedures in their emergency preparedness plans to address the safe evacuation of passengers with disabilities during an emergency situation; limit the need for the FRA to formally approve administrative changes to approved emergency preparedness plans; and specify new operational efficiency testing and inspection requirements for both operating and non-operating rail employees.

The proposed rulemaking is based on recommendations from the General Passenger Safety Task Force that’s part of the FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee. The FRA is accepting comments on the rulemaking from interested parties until Aug. 27.

The FRA also announced that it issued a notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding potential passenger-rail improvements on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, D.C., and Boston. The administration is leading the planning and environmental evaluation of the “NEC Future” program in close coordination with the involved states, the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission, Amtrak and other stakeholders, FRA officials said in a news brief.

The NEC Future program aims to define current and future markets for improved rail service and capacity on the corridor, develop a plan to incrementally meet those needs, and create a regional planning framework to engage stakeholders throughout the region in the program’s development.

The program includes the development of a Passenger Rail Corridor Investment Plan to provide the data necessary to support a federal decision to fund and implement major improvements. The investment plan’s two components are a Tier 1 EIS and a service development plan.