FORT WORTH, Texas — BNSF Railway’s train dispatchers will participate in the Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System under an agreement announced today.
BNSF becomes the second Class I railroad to participate in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, or C3RS. Norfolk Southern joined the program in March.
The American Train Dispatchers Association, FRA, and BNSF said they reached a landmark agreement for the railroad’s 650 train dispatchers to participate in a one-year C3RS pilot program.
As part of the program, dispatchers can report unsafe events confidentially while being protected from BNSF disciplinary action and FRA enforcement.
“BNSF is committed to improving safety on our railroad and is proud to have reached an agreement to voluntarily participate with ATDA in C3RS,” BNSF CEO Katie Farmer said in a statement. “We hope this program will further empower our employees to provide confidential feedback on critical safety issues in an actionable, timely manner. We look forward to working with the FRA and ATDA on this positive step forward.”
“The adoption of the C3RS at BNSF marks a pivotal moment for rail safety,” ATDA President Ed Dowell said in a statement. “As a program focused on proactive safety measures, it will serve as the new standard for reporting, understanding, and preventing rail incidents. Furthermore, this would not have been possible without the BNSF’s willingness to be the first Class I railroad to reach a C3RS agreement with ATDA. The ATDA is proud to be the first organization to reach C3RS agreement with BNSF.”
C3RS is an FRA-sponsored program that improves railroad safety through a confidential and non-punitive reporting process. FRA has partnered with NASA to operate C3RS as an independent third party. The program will permit train dispatchers to confidentially report close call events, which include unsafe practices, behaviors, or situations that cause railroad safety concerns. Details are reported to NASA through a secure website or a written form. NASA makes the reports anonymous and shares them with a Peer Review Team, which is composed of representatives from the ATDA, BNSF, and FRA. The PRT will then review the reports and develop recommended corrective actions that can help improve railroad safety.
“The Federal Railroad Administration is pleased that ATDA and BNSF came together to join C3RS, a vital safety program, and we are confident that providing opportunities for dispatchers to share their experiences will have real results on rail safety,” FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in a statement. “Rail workers have experience and expertise that are vitally important, and hearing from them can lead to proactive safety measures. The C3RS program is a proven, long-standing avenue to achieve just this, and that’s why USDOT and FRA have been working so hard to secure Class I freight railroad participation in the C3RS program.”
The FRA urged the Class I railroads to join the program last year as part of a broader push on rail safety in the wake of the Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The program has historically met resistance from the Class I railroads and from the industry in general; a 2022 Government Accountability Office report found that just 23 of the nation’s more than 800 railroads were participants [see “GAO report finds FRA’s close-call program is underused …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 21, 2022].
