Washington — The Federal Railroad Administration is stressing the importance of having clear tracks before beginning shoving or pushing movements across certain highway-grade rail crossings.
The Association of American Railroads defines a shoving movement as “when a locomotive is pushing a group of [rail] cars during a switching operation.”
In a safety advisory to railroads published Dec. 10, FRA specifically focuses on the need for adequate job briefings and visual assessments before equipment traverses a crossing – the required actions if a “track is clear” determination can’t be made on crossings equipped with only flashing lights or passive warning devices.
The agency also highlights the need for railroads to evaluate certain crossings to determine if it’s feasible for an employee riding a shove move to make the “track is clear” determination.
Recent incidents, FRA says, have demonstrated that railroads and their workers may require additional training and operational testing to ensure sufficient understanding and compliance with “track is clear” procedures. In some cases, “operating rules and/or bulletins need to be updated to require stop and flag at certain crossings.”
FRA recommends that railroads and their employees:
- Review shoving or pushing movement rules related to 49 CFR 218.99 to ensure compliance with the comprehensive job safety briefing requirement of Paragraph (b).
- Review and update, if needed, all applicable operating rules to ensure they account for necessary factors to be considered in determining whether a track is clear.
- Review and evaluate existing operational testing data required by 49 CFR 217.9(e) relevant to shoving or pushing movements over grade crossings.
- Implement a program to evaluate all crossings with only flashing lights or passive warning devices to determine if it’s feasible for an employee responsible for the safety of operations across the crossing to determine whether the track is clear.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued its own advisory in December in response to a recent series of fatal incidents that took place during shoving movements.
