WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration has released a safety bulletin related to a June 9 close-clearance switching accident that killed a Union Pacific conductor in Nacogdoches, Texas.
“Based on FRA’s preliminary investigation, the locomotive engineer was shoving two locomotives and five covered hopper cars into a siding. The conductor was riding the consist and collided with cars that had been left fouling the siding after being set out on the main track. The employee had approximately two years of railroad experience, and qualified as a conductor in August 2023. While FRA’s investigation into this accident is ongoing, the circumstances raise concerns about whether the conductor was properly trained and qualified to perform switching duties,” the FRA said in its safety bulletin that was issued on Monday.
The FRA urged railroads to identify location-specific safety issues to cover during safety briefings and employee training. The bulletin makes three recommendations:
- Railroads must ensure that newly certified conductors or conductors in training have received structured and documented instruction in railroad operating fundamentals, and management should verify that conductors have demonstrated proficiency in both classroom and on-the-job training. A special emphasis should be placed on rules and procedures for identifying fouling equipment before making shove movements.
- Railroads should review their operating rules testing programs to ensure that conductors are tested for equipment left in the foul and proper shove procedures.
- Railroads should review with employees Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) Working Group recommendation that experienced employees should serve as mentors to less experienced employees on safe operations.
Union Pacific, in a statement emailed to Trains News Wire, said that all of its conductors “are trained and certified in compliance with Federal Railroad Administration’s regulations. We are cooperating with the FRA as it investigates this tragic incident.”
SOFA today issued an alert regarding the UP accident.
“The working group would like to encourage stakeholders to ensure that equipment is standing clear of adjacent tracks before beginning a shove movement, especially during continuous switching operations. Last, but not least, stop the movement in instances of uncertainty and remember to always hold a job briefing whenever the job or situation changes,” the alert says.
The SOFA Working Group is a voluntary, non-regulatory, workplace-safety partnership that includes the FRA, labor unions, the Association of American Railroads, and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Robert Gardner, 43, of Lufkin, Texas, was killed in the June 9 accident. The SMART-TD union has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses. More information is available online.
