Are railroad tracks inside industrial plants subject to the Federal Track Safety Standards?
A. The Federal regulations for track safety are contained in Part 213 of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The applicability section of those regulations (Sec. 213.3) specifically excludes track “located inside an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation.” However, this section must be read in conjunction with 49 C.F.R. Part 209, Appendix A, which explains that the owner of any plant railroad trackage over which a general system railroad operates is responsible for the condition of the track used by the general system railroad. Appendix A is not meant to imply that all of the requirements of Part 213, including inspection frequencies and record keeping, become applicable to a plant railroad once a general system railroad enters the property. Rather, it is a statement meant to convey FRA’s intent that plants should maintain in safe condition that portion of their trackage used by a general system railroad. FRA does not have the manpower or res
A. The Federal regulations for track safety are contained in Part 213 of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The applicability section of those regulations (Sec. 213.3) specifically excludes track “located inside an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation.” However, this section must be read in conjunction with 49 C.F.R. Part 209, Appendix A , which explains that the owner of any plant railroad trackage over which a general system railroad operates is responsible for the condition of the track used by the general system railroad. Appendix A is not meant to imply that all of the requirements of Part 213, including inspection frequencies and record keeping, become applicable to a plant railroad once a general system railroad enters the property. Rather, it is a statement meant to convey FRA’s intent that plants should maintain in safe condition that portion of their trackage used by a general system railroad. FRA does not have the manpower or re
