WASHINGTON — Railroading is an outdoor sport, and the Federal Railroad Administration is encouraging railroads to step up their play in bad weather.
In a safety advisory issued Monday, Nov. 20, the FRA urged railroads to take steps to ensure that they take proper precautions while operating through extreme weather events, including tornadoes, high winds, floods, and heat.
From January 2021 through the end of July this year railroads have reported 123 weather-related accidents to the FRA, with more of the incidents being mainline derailments. Tornadoes caused four mainline wrecks; flooding 10; high winds 12; and sun kinks 40, FRA said.
The safety advisory, which is non-binding, makes six recommendations. Railroads should:
- Evaluate their policies and procedures related to severe weather and make sure that they are adequate to ensure that weather-related responses can be initiated quickly.
- Evaluate their weather forecasting policies and procedures.
- Evaluate their operating infrastructure to identify critical areas susceptible to severe weather.
- Evaluate weather-related plans to ensure they detail actions required to address risks posted by severe weather.
- Establish standard operating thresholds to ensure their weather-related plans adequately prepare for severe weather.
- Work together to develop industry-wide best practices for using forecasts, predictive weather models, and weather-related action plans.
