This part prescribes minimum requirements governing the use of wireless communications in connection with railroad operations. In addition, this part sets forth prohibitions, restrictions, and requirements that apply to the use of personal and railroad-supplied cellular telephones and other electronic devices. So long as these minimum requirements are met, railroads may adopt additional or more stringent requirements.

[75 FR 59601, Sept. 27, 2010]

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, this part applies to railroads that operate trains or other rolling equipment on standard gage track which is part of the general railroad system of transportation.

(b) This part does not apply to:

(1) A railroad that operates only on track inside an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation; or

(2) Rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected with the general railroad system of transportation.

As used in this part, the term:

Adjacent tracks means two or more tracks with track centers spaced less than 25 feet apart.

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety/Chief Safety Officer means either the Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety/Chief Safety Officer, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590 or that person's delegate.

Authorized business purpose means a purpose directly related to the tasks that a crewmember is expected to perform during the current tour of duty as specified by the railroad in writing.

Control center means the locations on a railroad from which the railroad issues instructions governing railroad operations.

Division headquarters means the location designated by the railroad where a high-level operating manager (e.g., a superintendent, division manager, or equivalent), who has jurisdiction over a portion of the railroad, has an office.

Earpiece means a small speaker that is inserted in, or held next to, the ear for use in transmitting sounds related to an electronic device.

Electronic device means an electronic or electrical device used to conduct oral, written, or visual communication; place or receive a telephone call; send or read an electronic mail message or text message; look at pictures; read a book or other written material; play a game; navigate the Internet; navigate the physical world; play, view, or listen to a video; play, view, or listen to a television broadcast; play or listen to a radio broadcast other than a radio broadcast by a railroad; play or listen to music; execute a computational function; or, perform any other function that is not necessary for the health or safety of the person and that entails the risk of distracting the employee or another railroad operating employee from a safety-related task. This term does not include—

(1) Electronic control systems and information displays within the locomotive cab (whether the displays or systems be fixed or portable) or on a remote control transmitter necessary to operate a train or conduct switching operations; or

(2) A digital watch whose only purpose is as a timepiece.

Employee means an individual who is engaged or compensated by a railroad or by a contractor to a railroad, who is authorized by a railroad to use its wireless communications in connection with railroad operations.

Fouling a track means the placement of an individual in such proximity to a track that the individual could be struck by a moving train or other on-track equipment, or in any case is within four feet of the nearest rail.

FRA means the Federal Railroad Administration.

Immediate access to a radio means a radio on the employee's person, or sufficiently close to the employee to allow the employee to make and receive radio transmissions.

In deadhead status means awaiting or in deadhead transport from one point to another as a result of a railroad-issued verbal or written directive.

Joint operations means rail operations conducted by more than one railroad on the track of a railroad subject to the requirements of § 220.9(a), except as necessary for the purpose of interchange.

Locomotive means a piece of on-track equipment other than hi-rail, specialized maintenance, or other similar equipment—

(1) With one or more propelling motors designed for moving other equipment;

(2) With one or more propelling motors designed to carry freight or passenger traffic, or both; or

(3) Without propelling motors but with one or more control stands.

Lone worker means an individual roadway worker who is not being afforded on-track safety by another roadway worker, who is not a member of a roadway work group, and who is not engaged in a common task with another roadway worker.

Mandatory directive means any movement authority or speed restriction that affects a railroad operation.

Medical device means an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, or other similar or related article (including a component part), or accessory that is intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or other conditions.

Personal electronic device means an electronic device that was not provided to the railroad operating employee by the employing railroad for a business purpose.

Railroad operating employee means a person performing duties subject to—

(1) An individual engaged in or connected with the movement of a train, including a hostler, as defined in 49 U.S.C. 21101(5), who is subject to 49 U.S.C. 21103 effective July 16, 2009;

(2) A train employee providing commuter rail passenger transportation or intercity rail passenger transportation as defined in 49 U.S.C. 24102 who, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 21102(c), is subject to 49 U.S.C. 21103 as it was in effect on October 15, 2008; or

(3) An individual subject to any Federal Railroad Administration regulations prescribed pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 21109 governing the hours of service of train employees.

Railroad operation means any activity which affects the movement of a train, locomotive, on-track equipment, or track motor car, singly or in combination with other equipment, on the track of a railroad.

Railroad-supplied electronic device means an electronic device provided to a railroad operating employee by the employing railroad for an authorized business purpose. A railroad-supplied device will be considered a personal electronic device when it is being used by the employee for a purpose other than an authorized business purpose.

Roadway worker means any employee of a railroad, or of a contractor to a railroad, whose duties include inspection, construction, maintenance or repair of railroad track, bridges, roadway, signal and communication systems, electric traction systems, roadway facilities or roadway maintenance machinery on or near track or with the potential of fouling a track, and flagmen and watchmen/lookouts.

Switching operation means the classification of rail cars according to commodity or destination; assembling of cars for train movements; changing the position of cars for purposes of loading, unloading, or weighing; placing of locomotives and cars for repair or storage; or moving of rail equipment in connection with work service that does not constitute a train movement.

System headquarters means the location designated by the railroad as the general office for the railroad system.

Train, for purposes of subparts A and B of this part, means one or more locomotives coupled with or without cars, requiring an air brake test in accordance with 49 CFR part 232 or part 238, except during switching operations or where the operation is that of classifying and assembling rail cars within a railroad yard for the purpose of making or breaking up trains. The term, for purposes of subpart C of this part, means—

(1) A single locomotive,

(2) Multiple locomotives coupled together, or

(3) One or more locomotives coupled with one or more cars.

Working radio means a radio that can communicate with the control center of the railroad (through repeater stations, if necessary to reach the center) from any location within the rail system, except:

(1) Tunnels or other localized places of extreme topography, and

(2) Temporary lapses of coverage due to atmospheric or topographic conditions. In the case of joint operations on another railroad, the radio must be able to reach the control center of the host railroad.

Working wireless communications means the capability to communicate with either a control center or the emergency responder of a railroad through such means as radio, portable radio, cellular telephone, or other means of two-way communication, from any location within the rail system, except:

(1) Tunnels or other localized places of extreme topography, and

(2) Temporary lapses of coverage due to atmospheric or topographic conditions. In the case of joint operations on another railroad, the radio must be able to reach the control center of the host railroad.

[63 FR 47195, Sept. 4, 1998, as amended at 65 FR 41305, July 3, 2000; 75 FR 59601, Sept. 27, 2010]

Any person (including but not limited to a railroad; any manager, supervisor, official, or other employee or agent of a railroad; any owner, manufacturer, lessor, or lessee of railroad equipment, track, or facilities; any independent contractor providing goods or services to a railroad; and any employee of such owner, manufacturer, lessor, lessee, or independent contractor) who violates any requirement of this part or causes the violation of any such requirement is subject to a civil penalty of at least $1,086 and not more than $35,516 per violation, except that: Penalties may be assessed against individuals only for willful violations; where a grossly negligent violation or a pattern of repeated violations has created an imminent hazard of death or injury, or has caused death or injury, a penalty not to exceed $142,063 per violation may be assessed; and the standard of liability for a railroad will vary depending upon the requirement involved. Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. See FRA's website at www.fra.dot.gov for a statement of agency civil penalty policy.

[63 FR 47195, Sept. 4, 1998, as amended at 69 FR 30593, May 28, 2004; 72 FR 51196, Sept. 6, 2007; 73 FR 79702, Dec. 30, 2008; 77 FR 24420, Apr. 24, 2012; 81 FR 43110, July 1, 2016; 82 FR 16133, Apr. 3, 2017; 83 FR 60747, Nov. 27, 2018; 84 FR 23734, May 23, 2019; 84 FR 37073, July 31, 2019; 86 FR 1758, Jan. 11, 2021; 86 FR 23254, May 3, 2021; 87 FR 15868, Mar. 21, 2022; 88 FR 1127, Jan. 6, 2023; 88 FR 89562, Dec. 28, 2023]

(a) Any person subject to a requirement of this part may petition the Administrator for a waiver of compliance with such requirement. The filing of such a petition does not affect that person's responsibility for compliance with that requirement while the petition is being considered.

(b) Each petition for waiver must be filed in the manner and contain the information required by part 211 of this chapter.

(c) If the Administrator finds that a waiver of compliance is in the public interest and is consistent with railroad safety, the Administrator may grant the waiver subject to any conditions the Administrator deems necessary.

(a) Except as provided for in paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section, on and after July 1, 1999, each occupied controlling locomotive in a train shall have a working radio, and each train shall also have communications redundancy. For purposes of this section, “communications redundancy” means a working radio on another locomotive in the consist or other means of working wireless communications.

(b) On and after July 1, 2000, the following requirements apply to a railroad that has fewer than 400,000 annual employee work hours:

(1) Any train that transports passengers shall be equipped with a working radio in the occupied controlling locomotive and with redundant working wireless communications capability in the same manner as provided in paragraph (a) of this section.

(2) Any train that operates at greater than 25 miles per hour; or engages in joint operations on track where the maximum authorized speed for freight trains exceeds 25 miles per hour; or engages in joint operations on a track that is adjacent to and within 30 feet measured between track center lines of another track on which the maximum authorized speed for passenger trains exceeds 40 miles per hour, shall be equipped with a working radio in the occupied controlling locomotive.

(3) Any train that engages in joint operations, where the maximum authorized speed of the track is 25 miles per hour or less, shall be equipped with working wireless communications in the occupied controlling locomotive.

(4) Any train not described in paragraph (b) of this section that transports hazardous material required to be placarded under the provisions of part 172 of this title shall be equipped with working wireless communications in the occupied controlling locomotive.

(a) On and after July 1, 1999, the following requirements apply to a railroad that has 400,000 or more annual employee work hours:

(1) Maintenance-of-way equipment operating without locomotive assistance between work locations shall have a working radio on at least one such unit in each multiple piece of maintenance-of-way equipment traveling together under the same movement authority. The operators of each additional piece of maintenance-of-way equipment shall have communications capability with each other.

(2) Each maintenance-of-way work group shall have intra-group communications capability upon arriving at a work site.

(b) On and after July 1, 1999, each employee designated by the employer to provide on-track safety for a roadway work group or groups, and each lone worker, shall be provided, and where practicable, shall maintain immediate access to a working radio. When immediate access to a working radio is not available, the employee responsible for on-track safety or lone worker shall be equipped with a radio capable of monitoring transmissions from train movements in the vicinity. A railroad with fewer than 400,000 annual employee work hours may provide immediate access to working wireless communications as an alternative to a working radio.

(c) This section does not apply to:

(1) Railroads which have fewer than 400,000 annual employee work hours, and which do not operate trains in excess of 25 miles per hour; or

(2) Railroad operations where the work location of the roadway work group or lone worker:

(i) Is physically inaccessible to trains; or

(ii) Has no through traffic or traffic on adjacent tracks during the period when roadway workers will be present.

(a) Employees shall immediately report by the quickest means available derailments, collisions, storms, wash-outs, fires, obstructions to tracks, and other hazardous conditions which could result in death or injury, damage to property or serious disruption of railroad operations.

(b) In reporting emergencies, employees shall follow:

(1) The procedures of § 220.47 when using a radio; or

(2) The procedures specified for reporting emergencies in the railroad's timetables or timetable special instructions, when using another means of wireless communications.

(c) Employees shall describe as completely as possible the nature, degree and location of the hazard.

(d) An alternative means of communications capability shall be provided whenever the control center is unattended or unable to receive radio transmissions during a period in which railroad operations are conducted.