Test Program and Public Hearing Involving Remotely Controlled Locomotives

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[FRA General Docket No. H-94-6]

Test Program and Public Hearing Involving Remotely Controlled

Locomotives

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of

Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of test program and public hearing.

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SUMMARY: FRA is planning to conduct a test program of rail operations

involving use of remotely controlled locomotives to evaluate the safety

of this new technology in which a person can operate a locomotive by

means of a radio remote-control device while not physically within the

confines of a locomotive cab.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Chief of Motive Power and Equipment Division,

Office of Safety (RRS-14), Federal Railroad Administration, 400 7th

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 202-366-4094).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 49 CFR 211.51, FRA will conduct

a nation-wide test of rail operations involving remotely controlled

locomotives (operations in which a person located outside a locomotive

cab operates a locomotive by means of a radio remote-control device).

The purpose of the test is to determine under what conditions

locomotives can be operated from outside the cab of a locomotive by

means of one of several different types of remote-control devices, with

the level of safety required by Sec. 2 of the Locomotive Inspection Act

( 45 U.S.C. Sec. 23) and Sec. 229.7 of the Locomotive Safety Standards

(49 CFR 229.7), which incorporates that statutory provision. Section 2

of the Locomotive Inspection Act states that it is

Unlawful for any railroad to use or permit to be used on its

line any locomotive unless said locomotive, its boiler, tender, and

all parts and appurtenances thereof are in proper

condition and safe to operate in the service to which they are put.

FRA considers a remote-control device used to operate a locomotive to

be a ``part or appurtenance'' within the meaning of the Locomotive

Inspection Act.

In addition to raising overall safety concerns, remote-control

operations raise issues of possible technical noncompliance with

certain Federal railroad safety standards inasmuch as the technology in

question was not in use when the regulations were issued.

The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company (W&LE) has submitted a

petition to FRA requesting waivers of certain provisions of the Federal

rail safety regulations in order to use remote-control devices in rail

operations. FRA Docket Numbers LI-92-6 and RSOP-92-1, 59 FR 4454

(January 14, 1993). In addition to reviewing the various regulations

from which W&LE requested relief, FRA reviewed W&LE's remote-control

operations in light of compliance with Sec. 2 of the Locomotive

Inspection Act (45 U.S.C. Sec. 23) and Sec. 229.7 of the Locomotive

Safety Standards (49 CFR 229.7), which incorporates that statutory

provision.

Based on an extensive FRA field investigation of the W&LE's remote-

control operations, W&LE's petition to FRA, testimony presented at a

public hearing held on May 11, 1993, submissions to the public docket,

as well as testing performed by the Volpe Transportation Systems Center

under contract to FRA, FRA has conditionally granted the W&LE a

temporary waiver. A copy of the approval letter is contained in

Appendix A to this notice.

While FRA has extensively reviewed the remote-control operations of

the W&LE, other railroads throughout the country have begun to use

remote-control technologies without similar FRA review. Because there

are different remote-control transmitters and receivers made by a

number of manufacturers and various railroads use those remote-control

devices in various operational settings, conditions associated with

W&LE's use of the devices may or may not be appropriate to other

carriers.

FRA needs to assure that continued use of this new technology does

not create a safety risk to railroad employees or the public. FRA also

does not want to hinder the development of new technologies which may

be of benefit to the rail industry. Thus, FRA has chosen to permit

continued use of remote control systems subject to appropriate safety

conditions, while a two-year study of such use is underway. At the

conclusion of the two-year period, FRA will be in a better position to

evaluate the necessity and, if appropriate, content of permanent safety

requirements for remote control use.

All railroads using such remote-control systems will be permitted

to continue using such systems only if they participate in the long-

term test, so that FRA can evaluate remote control operations in light

of the regulatory and statutory obligations imposed upon all railroads.

Enrollment will be necessary for waiver of those provisions of 49 CFR

Part 229 that present technical barriers to remote-control operation.

FRA will conduct the test in accordance with the guidelines set

forth in Appendix B. FRA seeks the comments of all parties interested

in the test program prior to taking final action. All interested

parties are invited to participate in this proceeding through written

submissions or by participating in an informal hearing to discuss the

test has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on January 11, 1995 in Room 2230,

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. All written

communications concerning this test program should reference ``FRA

General Docket No. H-94-6'' and should be submitted in triplicate to

the Docket Clerk, Office of Chief Counsel, Room 8201, FRA, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

Comments received by January 18, 1995 will be considered before

final action is taken. All comments received will be available for

examination during regular working hours in Room 8201, Nassif Building,

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

Issued in Washington, DC on November 9, 1994.

Phil Olekszyk,

Acting Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Comnpliance and

Program Implementation.

Appendix A

November 9, 1994.

Arthur E. Korkosz, Esq.,

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, 4900 Society Center, Cleveland, Ohio

44114-1304.

Re: FRA Docket Nos. LI-92-6 and

RSOP-92-1

Dear Mr. Korkosz: This is in response to the petition on behalf

of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Company (W&LE) for waivers of

various Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rail safety

regulations pertaining to W&LE's use of remotely controlled

locomotives. FRA has reviewed in detail the operation of remotely

controlled locomotives on the W&LE. That operation raises issues of

technical noncompliance with various regulations as a result of the

fact that the technology in question was not in use when the

regulations were drafted.\1\ In addition, certain aspects of the

operation raise safety concerns which are not addressed by existing

regulations. Irrespective of the absence of regulatory provisions

addressing specific locomotive features or appurtenances, railroads

are required to use only locomotives and appurtenances that are safe

to operate in the service to which they are put. Section 2 of the

Locomotive Inspection Act, states in part:

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\1\It has been argued that section 1 of the first Safety

Appliance Act (45 U.S.C. Sec. 1) (hereinafter, ``Section 1'')

prohibits use of a locomotive without an engineer physically present

in the cab. Section 1 does not require the presence of an engineer

on the locomotive. Section 1 does make it unlawful to run a train

with an insufficient number of cars equipped with power or train

brakes or to use a locomotive not equipped with an independent power

brake and with appliances for operating the train brakes. This

provision in Section 1, while referring to an ``engineer on the

locomotive'' clearly does not require that an engineer be on the

locomotive; the subjects of that provision, and the only actions

made unlawful, are the operation of a train without an insufficient

number of adequately equipped cars and the use of a locomotive

unequipped with an independent power brake or appliances for

operating the train brakes.

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* * * it shall be unlawful for any railroad to use or permit to

be used on its line any locomotive unless said locomotive, its

boiler, tender, and all parts and appurtenances thereof are in

proper condition and safe to operate in the service to which the

same are put, that the same may be employed in the active service of

such railroad without unnecessary peril to life or limb * * *.

45 U.S.C. Sec. 23. See also 49 CFR Sec. 229.7(a)(1).

In making its determination regarding W&LE's petition, FRA has

reviewed the petition, testimony presented at a public hearing held

on May 11, 1993, and submissions to the public docket. FRA has also

relied on its own staff of railroad safety experts as well as

testing performed by the Volpe Transportation Systems Center under

contract to FRA.

Based on the above, FRA is dismissing FRA Docket No. RSOP-92-1

inasmuch as the operation of remotely controlled locomotives does

not by itself violate 49 CFR Part 218, Subpart B (``Blue Signal

Protection of Workers''). FRA is granting your request for a waiver

of rail safety regulations under FRA Docket No. LI-92-6 for a period

of two years subject to the conditions listed in the enclosure to

this letter. FRA reserves the right to amend or revoke this approval

based on non-compliance or based on new information pertaining to

the safety of the system. During this two-year period FRA will also

be conducting a test program, and together with its contractors,

will be reviewing remote-control operations and technology on the

W&LE and other railroads using similar technology. A notice of the

test program is being published in the Federal Register. In that

notice, FRA is encouraging all other railroads presently using

remote-control locomotives to join with FRA in evaluating these

systems.

At the conclusion of the test period, FRA will be in a better

position to evaluate the necessity and, if appropriate, content of

permanent safety requirements for use of remote-control devices.

Sincerely,

Phil Olekszyk,

Acting Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Compliance and Program

Implementation, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of

Transportation.

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company

Remote-control Locomotives

The waivers granted under FRA Docket No. LI-92-6 are subject to

the conditions set forth in this document. FRA reserves the right to

amend to revoke this approval based on non-compliance or based on

new information pertaining to the safety of the system.

A. Design Requirements

1. Each remote-control transmitter shall, at a minimum, have the

capability of controlling the following locomotive functions:

a. directional control;

b. graduated throttle control;

c. graduated independent locomotive brake application and

release;

d. graduated automatic train brake application and release;

e. audible warning device control;

f. audible bell control, if equipped;

g. sand control; and

h. headlight control.

2. Each remote-control transmitter shall control only the

locomotive equipped with a remote-control receiver assigned to that

transmitter.

3. Each locomotive equipped with a remote-control receiver shall

respond only to the remote-control transmitter assigned to that

receiver.

4. A remote-control transmitter having the capability to control

more than one locomotive receiver shall have a lockable selector

switch.

5. A service brake application by use of the remote-control

transmitter shall cause a service application of the locomotive and

train brakes.

6. When a remote-control transmitter's radio signal to the

locomotive receiver is interrupted for a set period not to exceed

five seconds, the remote-control system shall cause:

a. application of the locomotive and train brakes,

b. return of the diesel engine to idle, and

c. termination of the main generator/alternator electrical

output.

7. If a remote-control transmitter is equipped with an ``on''

and ``off'' switch, the switch, when moved from ``on'' to ``off''

position, shall result in:

a. application of the locomotive and train brakes,

b. return of the diesel engine to idle, and

c. termination of the main generator/alternator electrical

output.

8. Each locomotive equipped for remote-control operation shall

audibly or visibly indicate to nearby personnel that the locomotive

is under active remote-control and subject to movement.

9. Each remote-control transmitter shall be equipped with an

active safety switch requiring manual resetting or its equivalent.

It shall incorporate a timing sequence not to exceed 60 seconds.

Failure to reset the switch within the timing sequence shall result

in:

a. application of the locomotive and train brakes,

b. return of the diesel engine to idle,

c. termination of the main generator/alternator electrical

output, and

d. sounding of the horn continuously or in short blasts.

10. Each remote-control transmitter shall have a two-second

delay feature that when tilted 45 degrees in any direction shall

result in:

a. application of the locomotive and train brakes,

b. return of the diesel engine to idle,

c. termination of the main generator/alternator electrical

output, and

d. sounding of the horn continuously or in short blasts.

11. If the locomotive's main air reservoir pressure falls below

80 psi when the locomotive is in remote operation, the following

shall automatically occur:

a. application of the locomotive and train brakes,

b. return of the diesel engine to idle, and

c. termination of the main generator/alternator electrical

output.

12. In remote operation, any attempt to apply the brakes or move

the throttle on the locomotive control stand will automatically

result in:

a. application of the locomotive and train brakes,

b. return of the diesel engine to idle, and

c. termination of the main generator/alternator electrical

output.

13. When the air valves and the electrical selector switch on

the locomotive's remote control receiver equipment are moved from

manual to remote or remote to manual modes, an emergency application

of the locomotive and train brakes shall be initiated.

14. Measurements of electric and magnetic fields emitted by the

remote-control transmitter shall conform to American National

Standards Institute Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to

Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 300 Khz to 100 GHz'' (ANSI/

IEEE c95.1-1991).

B. Training Requirements

1. A training program for initial and continuing education for

operators of remote-control locomotives shall be established.

Training programs established in conformity with 49 CFR Part 240

shall be modified to include appropriate training for operation of

remote-control locomotives and systems.

2. Each person operating a remote-control locomotive

(irrespective of whether that locomotive service requires that the

operator be certified in accordance with 49 CFR Part 240) shall have

successfully completed appropriate classroom and hands-on training

regarding safety and operations of the remote-control locomotive and

system.

C. Standard Operating Procedures

1. W&LE shall establish written standard operating procedures

tailored to its remote-control operation and shall include the

following provisions:

a. Each defective condition in the remote-control system shall

be immediately reported to a designated railroad official.

b. Each defective condition in a remote-control system shall be

corrected before the locomotive is permitted to continue or be used

in remote-control service.

c. Repairs, modifications, or adjustments to any component of

the remote-control system shall be made by a qualified person.

d. W&LE shall immediately report by telephone to the FRA

Regional Office or, after business hours, to the National Response

Center whenever a derailment or personal injury occurs involving the

remote-control system. W&LE shall maintain a record of all defective

conditions and all accidents/incidents (irrespective of the

reporting threshold under 49 CFR Part 225) involving the remote-

control system. Such records shall be retained for at least 36

months.

e. Upon going off duty, each operator shall place the remote-

control locomotive in manual operation.

f. When operating a locomotive by remote-control, the operator

shall not:

i. ride on a freight car;

ii. ride on the locomotive's walkway or steps when the speed of

the locomotive is in excess of 10 mph; or

iii. stand or walk within the gage of the rail while in front of

the lead car or locomotive.

g. The maximum authorized speed of a remote-control locomotive

being operated from outside the cab is 10 mph.

h. When moving a group of cars for switching or placement

purposes, the remote-control operator shall assume a position to

observe the leading end of the movement.

i. The operator shall operate only one remote-control locomotive

consist from the remote-control transmitter, and shall not

simultaneously operate any other locomotive consist.

j. Prior to lining a switch or performing any duty that requires

going on, under, or between cars, the operator shall fully apply the

brakes on the locomotive and train.

k. When operating a remote-control locomotive in the remote mode

in road service, the operator shall at all times remain in the cab.

l. A remotely controlled locomotive operated from outside the

cab by a one-person crew shall not operate outside the confines of a

geographical yard, an industry, an industrial park, or a lead into

such facility when other railroad employees are not in close

proximity to the train movement.

m. A remote-control locomotive operated by a one-person crew

shall be segregated from other locomotives or crews operating in the

same yard or facility.

n. Movements past any signal, through an interlocking, or over

highway-rail crossings shall be made only when the remote-control

operator, or another crewmember who can signal or communicate with

the operator, has taken a position at the leading end of the

movement.

o. When operating a remote-control locomotive in the remote

mode, the operator shall bring the locomotive to a full stop before

the locomotive direction is changed.

q. Passenger trains shall not be operated by use of a remote-

control device.

r. Each operator of a remote-control locomotive shall be

equipped with an operative holstered hand-held radio equipped with a

wired remote microphone by which the operator may communicate with

another railroad employee.

s. In the event that a train is stopped on a grade, a sufficient

number of handbrakes must be set to hold the train.

2. W&LE shall adopt operating rules for remote-control

locomotives that address:

a. the maximum number of cars that can be handled at one time

and

b. how protection will be provided for maintenance-of-way and

signal employees in locations where remote-control locomotives are

operating.

3. W&LE shall submit its standard operating procedures to the

FRA.

4. W&LE shall comply with the standard operating procedures

listed above.

D. Security

1. The remote-control transmitter shall be stored in a secure

location when not in the operator's possession.

2. The issuance of a remote-control transmitter shall be the

responsibility of a designated railroad official who shall keep

accurate records of the assignment of each remote-control

transmitter.

3. Ability to access the selector switch on a remote-control

transmitter having the capability to control more than one

locomotive receiver shall be limited to one designated railroad

official during each shift.

E. Inspections and Tests

1. Each remote-control system shall be included as part of the

calendar day inspection required by 49 CFR 229.21.

2. Each operator upon going on duty, or before using the

locomotive in the remote-control mode for the first time during the

operator's shift, shall cut out the manual operation of the

locomotive and set up and test the remote-control transmitter to

determine that:

a. the control stand gauges and the load meter function properly

in accordance with the commands from the remote-control transmitter;

b. the locomotive responds to the transmitter controls of

reverser and throttle;

d. the locomotive brakes function properly from the transmitter;

e. the headlight, horn, and bell function properly from the

transmitter;

f. the transmitter tilt mechanism functions properly;

g. the transmitter tilt nullifying switch when placed in the

``off'' position, applies the locomotive brake; and

h. the active safety switch reset does not exceed 60 seconds.

F. Notification of Use and Protection of Workers

1. Prior to leaving the locomotive cab to operate the locomotive

from a position other than in or on the locomotive, the operator of

the locomotive shall affix a clearly visible tag to the throttle or

automatic brake value handle indicating that the locomotive is in

remote-control operation. This tag shall be removed by the operator

of the remote-control of the locomotive whenever the locomotive is

no longer operated by remote-control.

2. Whenever a worker as described in 49 CFR Part 218, Subpart B,

Blue Signal Protection of Workers, is required to work on, under, or

between the locomotive and/or train in remote-control operation, the

worker shall require the remote-control operator to remove the

remote-control tag from the throttle and restore the locomotive to

manual operation. The worker shall then attach a blue signal to the

throttle before commencing work.

3. When the worker has completed work on the locomotive or

train, the worker shall remove the blue signal and inform the

remote-control operator that he is off the locomotive or train. The

remote-control operator shall then comply with requirements of

section F.1. above before commencing use of the locomotive in

remote-control operations.

Appendix B

Test Program

Railroads operating on the general railroad system of

transportation using remote-control devices in which the lead

locomotive is controlled from outside the cab by means of a radio

transmitter are strongly encouraged to enroll in the test program:

1. Railroads participating in the test program shall inform the

Associate Administrator for Safety, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590.

2. Participating railroads agree to conform to the same

conditions as those contained in Appendix A.

3. If a participating railroad is unable to conform to any of

the conditions contained in Appendix A, it shall submit for FRA's

review and acceptance alternative safety conditions.

a. In the event the design of a remote-control system being used

by the participating railroads does not permit conformity with the

requirements contained in Appendix A, the railroad shall indicate

(i) which design requirement is different and (ii) how an equivalent

level of safety is achieved by the device being used by the

railroad.

b. In the event a participating railroad does not wish to comply

with a condition contained in sections B through G of Appendix A),

the railroad should specify the condition and indicate how an

equivalent level of safety is achieved by the railroad's alternative

condition.

4. Acceptance by FRA for participation in this test constitutes

a waiver of applicable Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards (49 CFR

Part 229) subject to compliance with the above conditions.

[FR Doc. 94-28490 Filed 11-17-94; 8:45 am]

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