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5/31/2023
The Federal Railroad Administration is soliciting comments until July 31 on proposed regulations for the certification of railroad dispatchers and signal employees.
Published today in the Federal Register, the proposed rules would require railroads to develop programs for certifying people who perform dispatching tasks on rail networks.
The dispatcher proposal calls for railroads to establish a formal process for training prospective dispatchers and verifying that each dispatcher has the knowledge, skill, safety record and ability to perform safety-related dispatcher duties before they are certified.
The signal employee proposal would require railroads to develop certification programs for signal employees and submit those written certification programs to the FRA for approval. Signal employees are responsible for the installation, testing, troubleshooting, repair and maintenance of rail signal systems. For the purposes of the proposed rule, the signal systems include highway-rail and pathway grade crossing warning systems, unusual contingency detection devices, broken rail detection systems, power-assisted switches and switch point indicators.
In addition, the railroads would have to verify that each signal employee has the knowledge, skill and safety record to perform the duties before certification. Railroads also would have to establish rules for revoking certification of dispatchers and signal employees who violate minimum requirements.