On August 28, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA’s) approval of the Kansas City Southern Railway Company’s (KCSR’s) plan to use Mexican engineers to operate trains within the U.S. As background, KCSR recently developed a revised engineer certification program for engineers working for
Read moreCSX has recently petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for waiver from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR part 225, Railroad Accidents/Incidents: Reports Classification, and Investigations. Specifically, CSX requests a waiver from 49 CFR 225.25(h), which requires, in part, that monthly listings of employee reportable injuries, occupational illnesses, and
Read moreWashington, DC, August 7 — On August 5, 2020, 12 rail unions whose members and their families are covered by the NRC/UTU Plan and the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan, filed suit against the nation’s Class I railroad carriers in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit asks the
Read moreThe Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) has recently petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for waiver from Federal railroad safety regulations regarding pre-departure inspections. BNSF specifically requested relief from 49 CFR 215.13, which requires that a pre-departure inspection be performed when combining two separate consists including one or more cars and one or more
Read moreOn April 12, 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted the BNSF Railway (BNSF) a test waiver to conduct a pilot program on the carrier’s Southern Transcon trains between Chicago, IL, and California to “demonstrate that the use of wheel temperature detectors to prove brake health effectiveness (BHE) will improve safety, reduce risks to employees,
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