FRA talks tough in Texas

Railway Age, Dec, 2004

The Federal Railroad Administration has entered into a one-year Safety Compliance Agreement with Onion Pacific in which UP must resolve safety problems that FRA says it found at the railroad's San Antonio (Texas) Service Unit during an investigation undertaken in July 2004.

FRA said that UP "failed in its implementation and management oversight of its Field Testing Exercise (FTX) Program, which tests train crew compliance with railroad operating rules and other Federal safety regulations." FRA came to this conclusion based on a review that included "federal inspectors riding UP trains, overseeing UP inspectors perform their work, conducting FRA's own inspections, and auditing the UP FTX Program."

This action came in the wake of several accidents, two of them fatal, in the San Antonio area this year. After entering into the Safety Compliance Agreement, UP announced the appointment of Shane Keller, 35, as general superintendent of transportation at its San Antonio Service Unit. UP said Keller will be responsible for the safe operation of 160 trains a day on more than 1,500 miles of track.

Under the terms of the agreement with FRA, UP must immediately begin a "thorough and vigorous program to re-instruct all railroad testing managers on the entire contents and requirements of its FTX Program; conduct monthly analysis of FTX Program data; formulate a monthly plan to correct identified problems and require headquarters in Omaha to audit the plan on a quarterly basis; and assign an official to be directly responsible for the implementation of the agreement."

FRA said it had reassigned inspectors from other regions to Texas "to supplement existing staff in inspecting and monitoring UP adherence to this agreement." Also, "should FRA determine ... that the Compliance Agreement is not being fulfilled by UP, a stronger Compliance Order will be issued without challenge from UP." This would be "enforceable in Federal Court, where top railroad officials could be held personally liable."