Railroad Training & Research Center

"We got People"

213.2 Preemptive effect.

Under 49 U.S.C. 20106, issuance of these regulations preempts any State law, regulation, or order covering the same subject matter, except an additional or more stringent law, regulation, or order that is necessary to eliminate or reduce an essentially local safety hazard; is not incompatible with a law, regulation, or order of the United States Government; and that does not impose an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.

213.3 Application

A) Except as provided in paragraph (B) of this section, this part applies to all standard gage track in the general railroad system of transportation.

B) This part does not apply to track—

    1) Located inside an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation; or

    2) Used exclusively for rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected with the general railroad system of transportation

A track owner may designate a segment of track as excepted track provided that—

A) The segment is identified in the timetable, special instructions, general order, or other appropriate records,  which are available for inspection during regular business hours;

B) Each record of an inspection under §§213.4, 213.119, 213.233, and 213.235 shall be prepared on the day the inspection is made and signed by the person making the inspection. Records shall specify the track inspected, date of inspection, location and nature of any deviation from the requirements of this part, and the remedial action taken by the person making the inspection. The owner shall designate the location(s) where each original record shall be maintained for at least one year after the inspection covered by the record. The owner shall also designate one location, within 100 miles of each state in which they conduct operations, where copies of records which apply to those operations are either maintained or can be viewed following 10 days notice by the Federal Railroad Administration.

C) The identified segment is inspected in accordance with 213.233(C) and 213.235 at the frequency specified for  Class 1 track;

D) The identified segment of track is not located on a bridge including the track approaching the bridge for 100 feet on either side, or located on a public street or highway, if railroad cars containing commodities required to be placarded by the Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR part 172), are moved over the track; and

E) The railroad conducts operations on the identified segment under the following conditions:

    1) No train shall be operated at speeds in excess of 10 miles per hour;

    2) No occupied passenger train shall be operated;

    3) No freight train shall be operated that contains more than five cars required to be placarded by the Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR part 172); and

    4) The gage on excepted track shall not be more than 4 feet 10 1/4 inches. (This paragraph (E-4) is applicable  September 21, 1999.)

F) A track owner shall advise the appropriate FRA Regional Office at least 10 days prior to removal of a segment  of track from excepted status.

213.5 Responsibility for compliance.

A) Except as provided in paragraph (B) of this section, any owner of track to

 which this part applies who knows or has notice that the track does not comply with the requirements of this part, shall—

    1) Bring the track into compliance;

    2) Halt operations over that track; or

    3) Operate under authority of a person designated under 213.7(A), who has at least one year of supervisory experience in railroad track maintenance, subject to conditions set forth in this part.

B) If an owner of track to which this part applies designates a segment of track as "excepted track" under the provisions of 213.4, operations may continue over that track without complying with the provisions of subparts B, C, D, and E of this part, unless otherwise expressly stated.

C) If an owner of track to which this part applies assigns responsibility for the track to another person (by lease or otherwise), written notification of the assignment shall be provided to the appropriate FRA Regional Office at least 30 days in advance of the assignment. The notification may be made by any party to that assignment, but shall be in writing and include the following-

    1) The name and address of the track owner;

    2) The name and address of the person to whom responsibility is assigned (assignee);

    3) A statement of the exact relationship between the track owner and the assignee;

    4) A precise identification of the track;

    5) A statement as to the competence and ability of the assignee to carry out the duties of  the track owner under this part; and

    6) A statement signed by the assignee acknowledging the assignment to him of   responsibility for purposes of compliance with this part.

D) The Administrator may hold the track owner or the assignee or both responsible for compliance with this part and subject to penalties under 213.15

E) A common carrier by railroad which is directed by the Surface Transportation Board to provide service over the track of another railroad under 49 U.S.C. 11123 is considered the owner of that track for the purposes of the application of this part during the period the directed service order remains in effect.

F) When any person, including a contractor for a railroad or track owner, performs any function required by this part, that person is required to perform that function in accordance with this part.

A) Each track owner to which this part applies shall designate qualified persons to supervise restorations and renewals of track under traffic conditions. Each person designated shall have—

    1) At least—

        a) 1 year of supervisory experience in railroad track maintenance; or

        b) A combination of supervisory experience in track maintenance and training from a course in track maintenance or from a college level educational program related to track maintenance;

    2) Demonstrated to the owner that he or she—

        a) Knows and understands the requirements of this part;

        b) Can detect deviations from those requirements; and

        c) Can prescribe appropriate remedial action to correct or safely compensate for those deviations; and

    3) Written authorization from the track owner to prescribe remedial actions to correct or safely compensate for deviations from the requirements in this part.

B) Each track owner to which this part applies shall designate qualified persons to inspect track for defects. Each person designated shall have—

    1) At least—

        a) 1 year of experience in railroad track inspection; or

        b) A combination of experience in track inspection and training from a course in track inspection or from a college level educational program related to track inspection;

    2) Demonstrated to the owner that he or she—

        a) Knows and understands the requirements of this part;

        b) Can detect deviations from those requirements; and

        c) Can prescribe appropriate remedial action to correct or safely compensate for those deviations; and

    3) Written authorization from the track owner to prescribe remedial actions to correct or safely compensate for deviations from the requirements of this part, pending review by a qualified person designated under paragraph (A) of this section.

C) Persons not fully qualified to supervise certain renewals and inspect track as outlined in paragraphs (A) and (B) of this section, but with at least one year of maintenance-of-way or signal experience, may pass trains over broken rails and pull aparts provided that—

    1) The track owner determines the person to be qualified and, as part of doing so, trains, examines, and re-examines the person periodically within two years after each prior examination on the following topics as they relate to the safe passage of trains over broken rails or pull aparts: rail defect identification, crosstie condition, track surface and alignment, gage restraint, rail end mismatch, joint bars, and maximum distance between rail ends over which trains may be allowed to pass. The sole purpose of the examination is to ascertain the person’s ability to effectively apply these requirements and the examination may not be used to disqualify the person from other duties. A minimum of four hours training is adequate for initial training;

    2) The person deems it safe and train speeds are limited to a maximum of 10 m.p.h. over the broken rail or pull apart;

    3) The person shall watch all movements over the broken rail or pull apart and be prepared to stop the train if necessary; and

    4) Person(s) fully qualified under 213.7 of this part are notified and dispatched to the location promptly for the purpose of authorizing movements and effecting temporary or permanent repairs. 

D) With respect to designations under paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this section, each track owner shall maintain written records of

    1) Each designation in effect;

    2) The basis for each designation; and

    3) Track inspections made by each designated qualified person as required by 213.241. These records shall be kept available for inspection or copying by the Federal Railroad Administration during regular business hours.

B) If a segment of track does not meet all of the requirements for its intended class, it is reclassified to the next lowest class of track for which it does meet all of the requirements of this part. However, if the segment of track does not at least meet the requirements for Class 1 track, operations may continue at Class 1 speeds for a period of not more than 30 days without bringing the track into compliance, under the authority of a person designated under  213.7(A), who has at least one year of supervisory experience in railroad track maintenance, after that person determines that operations may safely continue and subject to any limiting conditions specified by such person.

If during a period of restoration or renewal, track is under traffic conditions and does not meet all of the requirements prescribed in this part, the work on the track shall be under the continuous supervision of a person designated under  213.7(A) who has at least one year of supervisory experience in railroad track maintenance, and subject to any limiting conditions specified by such person. The term "continuous supervision" as used in this section means the physical presence of that person at a job site. However, since the work may be performed over a large area, it is not necessary that each phase of the work be done under the visual supervision of that person.

213.13 Measuring Track Not Under Load.

When unloaded track is measured to determine compliance with requirements of this part, the amount of rail movement, if any, that occurs while the track is loaded must be added to the measurements of the unloaded track.

213.15 Penalties.

A) Any owner of track to which this part applies, or other person subject to this part, may petition the Federal Railroad Administrator for a waiver from any or all requirements prescribed in this part. 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 a waiver under this section shall be filed in the manner and contain the information required by part 211 of this chapter.

C) If the Administrator finds that a waiver is in the public interest and is consistent with railroad safety, the Administrator may grant the exemption subject to any conditions the Administrator deems necessary. Where a waiver is granted, the Administrator publishes a notice containing the reasons for granting the waiver.

A) The information collection requirements of this part were reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and are assigned 0MB control number 2130-0010.

B) The information collection requirements are found in the following sections: 213.4, 213.5, 213.7, 213.17, 213.57, 213.119, 213.122, 213.233, 213.237, 213.241, 213.303, 213.305, 213.317, 213.329, 213.333, 213.339, 213.341, 213.343, 213.345, 213.353, 213.361, 213.369