Risch: RSAC assigns working group to review industry speed signs

When is the best time to plant a tree? A good answer is 20 years ago, because if you had planted it then, you could be sitting under it now. The second best time to plant a tree is today.

That kind of sums up the way our legislative department work goes. For several years we have been pushing for a law or regulation requiring a minimum of two crew members on trains, because we all know the only safe way to operate a train is with a crew of at least one conductor and one engineer. On March 14th the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a proposed rule requiring most trains in America to have a minimum of two crew members. We are hard at work putting together comments and recommendations in order to make the final rule as strong as possible.      

On February 26th we asked the FRA to address the issue of uniform speed signs for speed restrictions, and on April 7th the FRA’s Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) approved an industry working group to address this issue. While these sorts of things take time, like a tree takes to grow, to see substantial progress only 41 days after our request is remarkable.

The lack of speed signs on many railroads came as a shock to me. We are all creatures of our environment and having worked for 30 years on the BN and BNSF – railroads with excellent speed signs – I assumed all railroads, just like all highways, used speed signs…how wrong I was.    

Two years ago one of our members on NS told me that railroad didn’t use speed signs on temporary restrictions – and temporary sometimes means 24 hours and other times it can mean two to three years. Even worse, we found that speed signs are not only inconsistent across railroads, but that CN doesn’t use them at all.

Then came the tipping point and what prompted us to ask the FRA to address this issue. It was CP’s announcement that beginning on January 1, 2016, they would no longer be using speed signs for temporary restrictions. Our members on CP were justifiably outraged and we petitioned the FRA.   

We really shouldn’t need the government to get involved in simple, yet critical, safety measures like requiring adequate speed signs. Adequate signage should be a basic part of good railroading. We asked CP to reconsider their decision to eliminate the signs, but they ignored us. When I personally asked the COO of NS to put up signs he responded, “John, we have been running a railroad for more than 150 years.” That arrogant response needs no clarification.

Because some railroads refuse to adopt good safety practices, we have asked the government to get involved. The sad fact is that some railroads will only make safety improvements when required to by the government. 

Whether it is making sure trains have adequate staffing, or that crews have proper speed signs, we are pushing forward to make railroading as safe as possible. That’s what your legislative department is tasked with doing: planting trees today, so that we have a safe and secure workplace now and in the future.

Click here to read both letters.

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LCA 433B Secretary Virginia Horsey (Local 493 at Waterloo, Iowa) commented:

“I originally hired out on the Alaska Railroad, where all permanent speed changes and slide zones are clearly marked. Temporary slow orders are contained in bulletins and clearly marked with yellow and green flags. Then I hired out on the CN and was shocked to see that they not only have no speed limit signs, but there are no flags displayed for temporary speed restrictions either; only planned work displays yellow-red and red flags. I fully support legislation requiring signage to help crews know exactly where speed restrictions begin and end. It really does make for a safer operating environment.”