Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced new regulations that require railroads to install signs at grade and pathway crossings that include toll-free telephone numbers the public can call to report unsafe conditions.

Does a 10-mile railroad with three grade crossings and 3-day-a-week operation really need a toll-free number? "Toll-free" still costs someone some money.

Howard P.

Paragraph (b)(1) permits a railroad that dispatches trains each of which is authorized to travel through a highway-rail or pathway grade crossing at speeds not greater than 20 miles per hour (mph) to use an answering machine to receive calls regarding unsafe conditions at the crossing. If the railroad uses an answering machine under these circumstances, the railroad must retrieve its messages immediately prior to the start of its operations for the day to ensure that a report of an unsafe condition does not come in after the answering machine has been checked, but before the first train of the day departs. FRA’s rationale for this exception is that at speeds of 20 mph or less the train engineer would have a greater ability to stop the train in advance of a crossing that has an unsafe condition, and thereby have a greater opportunity to avert an accident at the crossing, than would a train traveling at higher speeds.

Paragraph (b)(2) permits a railroad that dispatches one or more trains through a
highway-rail or pathway grade crossing on a seasonal or intermittent basis (e.g., a tourist, biweekly, or non-24-hour service), and any of the trains is authorized to travel through the crossing at speeds greater than 20mph to use an answering machine, but only during hours of non-operation. During periods of non-operation, the railroad is required to retrieve its messages once daily. However, the railroad must retrieve its messages immediately prior to the start of its operations for the day, to ensure that a report of an unsafe condition does not come in after the answering machine has been checked, but before the first train of the day departs. During hours of operation, the railroad must comply with § 234.303(a) by either having a live person answer calls directly and promptly, using an automated answering system, or employing a third-party telephone service to receive reports of unsafe conditions at crossings through which it dispatches such trains.

Toll free numbers are not expensive to obtain. Besides, how many call minutes do you expect? Hopefully, you will count the number of calls per year on your hand.

Not much to complain about. Somebody's car stalls on your track. Perhaps you would like them to telephone you before the big crash?

Does a 10-mile railroad with three grade crossings and 3-day-a-week operation really need a toll-free number? "Toll-free" still costs someone some money.

Toll free numbers are not expensive to obtain. Not much to complain about. Somebody's car stalls on your track. Perhaps you would like them to telephone you before the big crash? Maybe toll-free is not an impediment for most callers, but this is like arguing over which bandages to include in a first aid kit.

There was a case in the Detroit area about a year ago where a fire engine was answering a call and stopped on the tracks ---

Had there been a number they could have called and had they made the call....

Actually there have been several incidents where citizens HAVE called 9-1-1 or the number on the box... and there was a communication snafu and the train didn't get word. 9-1-1 says "We talked to somebody at the railroad" and the railroad says "Well, you didn't talk to the right guys." I think that's why the FRA wants to see in-house solutions: at least they know which corporation to fine if there's an INTERNAL snafu.