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RailwayA crossing warning system that fails

A caller reports that the warning system of a highway-rail crossing is malfunctioning, or that the active warning system of a pathway crossing has failed. As the railroad, you follow the order the federal rule sets for each case: the trains first, then the police or the maintaining railroad, then the investigation and repair. Who called and who maintains the system change the steps.

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Scenarios

  • A member of the public reports a malfunction at a highway-rail crossing whose warning system your railroad maintains.
  • The same public report, but another railroad maintains the warning system.
  • A credible report of a malfunction at a crossing your railroad dispatches but does not maintain.
  • The active warning system of a pathway grade crossing fails to perform as intended.

The steps

  1. Take the report on the ENS line, with the crossing's U.S. DOT number and whether the caller is a railroad employee, a law enforcement officer, a highway traffic official, another public agency employee, or a member of the public.
  2. Promptly contact every train authorized through the crossing, to notify each crew of the malfunction before the train arrives (for a credible report at a system you maintain, the actions of Part 234, Subpart C apply instead).
  3. For a public report or a pathway failure: then promptly contact the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction, with what it needs to direct traffic or keep the crossing safe.
  4. If you maintain the warning system: promptly investigate, determine the nature of the malfunction and take the action of 49 CFR 234.207; at a pathway crossing, repair it without undue delay if necessary.
  5. If you do not maintain it: promptly contact the maintaining railroad and inform it, so it investigates and acts.
  6. For a credible report at a system you dispatch but do not maintain: after the trains, inform the maintaining railroad; the rule does not include the police call here.
  7. Record each action, the time and date you contacted the maintaining railroad and when the condition was remedied.

Safety rules that stop the station

  • The trains are warned before the police and before the maintaining railroad.
  • While crossing warning devices have malfunctioned and the horn is required, or the system is out of service for inspection, maintenance or testing, nothing in Part 222 limits the engineer's use of the horn.

To pass

  • Trains, then the police (public report or pathway failure), then the repair or the maintaining railroad, in that order.
  • The maintaining railroad gives the dispatching railroad contact information and answers its calls with a live person or an automated answering system.
  • The records are kept at least one year from the railroad's last activity on the report.

Official source

Federal · FRA, 49 CFR 234.303 and 234.305

49 CFR Part 234, Subpart E: Emergency Notification Systems at Grade Crossings

The eCFR publishes 49 CFR Part 234, Subpart E free: 234.305 (a), (b) and (c) set the response to a credible report, a public report and a pathway failure.

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