Transit agency aims to make workers safer near train tracks
April 1, 2024

Washington — The Federal Transit Administration is accepting comment on a proposed rule that would establish mandatory minimum safety standards for rail transit employees who work on or near tracks.

Published March 25, the proposal would direct rail transit agencies to install multiple track worker protections, including “the right to challenge and refuse in good faith any assignment based on on-track safety concerns and resolve such challenges and refusals promptly and equitably.”

Other requirements would include:

• Establishing a roadway worker protection program to prevent incidents, fatalities and injuries to workers who access areas on and along tracks.
• Setting minimum requirements for RWP programs, such as job safety briefings and lone worker protection.
• Requiring workers to report unsafe actions, conditions and near misses related to RWP programs.

An FTA press release cites data from the National Transit Database showing that 22 deaths and 120 serious injuries occurred among workers on or along rail-transit tracks between Jan. 1, 2008, and Oct. 31, 2022.

{snip}

Comments are due May 24.