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Federal Comments

FRA Must Reject Union Pacific’s Request to Roll Back Safety

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice regarding Union Pacific Railroad’s (UP) July 14, 2023, request to amend its Positive Train Control (PTC) safety plan. TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions representing the totality of rail labor, including both passenger and freight rail workers. For the reasons outlined below, we respectfully request that the FRA deny UP’s request. Additionally, we endorse the comments of our affiliate, the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET).

TTD previously commented on how Positive Train Control (PTC) systems provide an additional layer of safety for rail workers and the public.[1] These systems are designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position. The National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) first recommended that PTC be required in 1969 and Congress subsequently mandated PTC systems in the 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) to save lives and reduce injuries. TTD and its unions support FRA’s goal of implementing safe and effective PTC systems in a timely fashion in order to protect rail workers and the general public.

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Rail Labor Backs Positive Train Control (PTC) Compliance

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice regarding a joint Request for Amendment (RFA) received from 20 rail carriers to modify their FRA-approved Positive Train Control Safety Plans (PTCSP). TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions representing the totality of rail labor and we therefore have a vested interest in this matter. For the reasons outlined below, we respectfully request that the FRA deny this joint request. Additionally, TTD endorses the comments of our affiliates, the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).

TTD previously commented on how Positive Train Control (PTC) systems provide an additional layer of safety for rail workers and the public.[1] These systems are designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position. The National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) first recommended that PTC be required in 1969 and Congress subsequently mandated PTC systems in the 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) to save lives and reduce injuries.

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CPKC Must Abide By Federal Safety Rules

By Admin

The undersigned labor organizations are pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice regarding Kansas City Southern Railway Company’s (now known as CPKC) petition to modify its waiver providing conditional relief from certain provisions of the federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR parts 215 (Railroad Freight Car Safety Standards) and 232 (Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment; End-of-Train Devices). Our unions represent CPKC freight rail workers across various crafts and therefore have a vested interest in this matter. For the reasons outlined below, we ask that the FRA deny CPKC’s petition to modify its waiver.

Background

Existing regulations established in 49 CFR 232.205 require rail carriers to perform a rigorous Class I brake inspection at the border when trains cross into the United States.[1] This inspection is crucial in mitigating any potential deficiencies in the Mexican Government’s rail safety regulations, which are much weaker than U.S. rail safety regulations, and ensuring that all U.S. safety regulations are met before a train continues on.

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Unions Oppose BNSF’s Attempt to Shirk Safety Regulations

By Admin

The undersigned labor organizations are pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice regarding BNSF Railway Company’s (BNSF) petition to extend its waiver allowing Class I brake tests and other mechanical inspections associated with a train entering the United States at Eagle Pass, Texas, to be performed at alternate locations rather than immediately at the border as required by federal regulations. Our unions represent BNSF freight rail workers across various crafts and therefore have a vested interest in this matter. For the reasons outlined below, we ask that the FRA deny BNSF’s petition to extend its waiver.

Specifically, BNSF is requesting a waiver extension from 49 CFR 232.205 and certain provisions of part 215 relative to the inspection of trains entering the United States from Mexico. BNSF seeks to continue to move trains received in interchange from Ferrocarril Mexicano, S.A. (FXE), approximately 12 miles outside of the community of Eagle Pass, Texas, to facilities at Ryan’s Ruin, Texas, or Horan Siding, where the required inspections will be performed.

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Reject Metra’s Request to Compromise on Safety

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice regarding the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation’s (Metra) petition to extend its waiver of compliance from the provisions of §236.377, Approach locking; §236.378, Time locking; §236.379, Route locking; §236.380, Indication locking; and §236.281, Traffic locking, to extend the periodic testing schedules from at least once every two years to at least once every four years. TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions representing the totality of rail labor. For the reasons outlined below, we respectfully request that the FRA deny Metra’s petition. Additionally, TTD endorses the comments of our affiliate, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS).

In its petition, Metra is requesting an extension of its initial waiver, first granted in 2012 and most recently extended in 2018, that allows for the verification and testing of signal locking systems controlled by microprocessor-based equipment through the use of alternative procedures every four years. As BRS notes in its comments, continuing to grant this request bypasses several safety checks that validate signal control systems. First, the alternative methods of verification currently in place under this waiver, using the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)/Checksum/Universal Control Number (UCN), are not an adequate substitute for required field verification testing. These methods cannot reliably discover errors that would otherwise be identified through the required means of testing and verification as established under federal regulations.

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Transit Workers Need Stronger Protections

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) notice of availability of proposed updates to its National Public Transportation Safety Plan. TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions – including those representing the majority of public transportation workers in the United States – who have a significant interest in ensuring the safety performance measures set forth in the National Safety Plan will adequately address growing safety concerns in the public transportation sector.

As the agency explains, 49 USC § 5329(d)(1) requires transit agencies receiving § 5307 Urbanized Area Formula funds or § 5311 Rural Area Formula funds to certify that they have in place a Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP). The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) adds new requirements for safety performance measures related to the PTASP safety risk reduction program, precautionary and reactive actions in emergency situations, and consideration of performance-based and risk-based methodologies.

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Amtrak Must Not Replace Hands-On Training

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to provide comments on Amtrak’s petition for a waiver of compliance from the “hands-on” component of periodic refresher trainings required by 49 CFR 232.203(b)(8), 49 CFR 215.11(b), 49 CFR 229.5, and 49 CFR. 238.109. TTD consists of 37 affiliate unions, which include the totality of rail labor, and therefore has a vested interest in this petition. Virtual training is not a sufficient substitute for hands-on training, and as such, we request that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) deny Amtrak’s petition for a waiver of compliance from such requirements.

As discussed below, we oppose Amtrak’s waiver request and urge the FRA to reject the request because it jeopardizes the safety of rail labor employees and the public. When protocols are revisited, it is imperative to recognize and retain, not weaken or waive the very requirements that are core to the safety of our system.

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TTD Demands Correct Implementation of Transit Worker Safety Protections in FTA Rulemaking

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) implementing statutory changes in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) regarding safety protections for frontline transportation workers. TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions – including those representing the majority of public transportation workers in the United States – who together, fought to ensure the provisions under consideration in this rulemaking were passed into law, and who have a significant interest in ensuring they are correctly implemented.

In addition to our own comments below, we endorse the comments filed by our affiliated unions, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), as well as those filed by Majority Leader Schumer, and the comments jointly filed by Senators Brown, Van Hollen, Reed, Warren, and Menendez.

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TTD Supports the Timely Repair of PATH Train Door Failures

By Admin

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice of Port-Authority Trans Hudson’s (PATH) petition to extend its waiver of compliance with respect to the timely fixing of door defects under 49 CFR §238.305 and the required Class II brake inspection under 49 CFR §238.317. TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions representing the totality of rail labor, including PATH rail workers. We ask that the FRA deny PATH’s petition on the grounds that eight days is an unacceptable wait time for repairing mechanical door defects and risks the safety of the affected trains, passengers, and crews. Additionally, we endorse the comments of our affiliate, the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD).

PATH seeks to extend a waiver related to passenger equipment standards under Part 238 of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations.[1] Specifically, PATH requests to extend its existing waiver relief from 49 CFR §238.305(c)(10) and (d), and 49 CFR §238.317(a)(1). PATH requests continued relief from the requirement that a car must be removed from service on the day after its calendar day interior mechanical inspection. In its petition, PATH seeks permission for a car to remain in service up to eight calendar days following notification of a mechanical door defect. It also seeks relief from the requirement to perform a Class II brake test where terminal dwell time is less than five minutes because of logistical challenges.

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Rail Unions Urge FRA to Revoke Misguided Safety Waiver

By Admin

The railroad Labor Organizations identified above (“Labor Organizations”) are the collective bargaining representatives for the vast majority of railroad industry workers engaged in train operations, train dispatching, signal, maintenance of way and mechanical maintenance, inspection, testing, and repair on passenger and freight railroads throughout the United States.

The Labor Organizations and their individual and collective memberships have a direct safety interest whenever FRA determines to waive safety regulations. The public also shares this interest, especially when a waiver of regulations regarding the performance of tests that confirm the proper functioning of locomotive and train air brake systems is involved. The classes or crafts of employees represented by the Labor Organizations include those who will be directly affected by the waiver of the safety regulations discussed in these comments. Particularly, we wish to dispel the notion that waiving current air test requirements promotes safety at a time when railroads simultaneously work to avoid any requirement to upgrade their current braking systems.

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