HBA-MSH C.S.H.B. 2606 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2606
By: Alexander
Transportation
4/23/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law requires a full crew consisting of a specified number of
persons for passenger, freight, gravel, or construction trains and light
engines. In some cases, these crew limits are impractical or burdensome.
C.S.H.B. 2606 reduces the minimum crew size for certain trains. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2606 amends law to modify the minimum required crew for a freight
train, gravel train, mixed train, work train, construction train (train),
or light engine to run outside yard limits to provide that a full crew
consists of two rather than five persons, including a conductor and an
engineer.  The bill specifies that the prohibition against running of a
train or light engine without a full work crew does not prohibit a railroad
company or a receiver of a railroad company from operating a train or light
engine with a crew of persons greater than the prescribed number.  The bill
requires the control locomotive of a train to be operated by an engineer at
any time the locomotive is in motion.  The bill authorizes the engineer of
a train to dismount the train to perform necessary job duties, including
rail switching activities.  The bill exempts from the full crew
requirements any railroad company of any line of railroad in this state
less than 40 rather than 20 miles in length.  The bill excludes from the
definition of "road" a designated service or repair track where the service
or repair track is protected by switch locks, blue flags, derails, and is
not a main track.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2606 differs from the original by restoring the current law
exemption from full crew requirements for any railroad company of a short
railroad line, when a crew member becomes disabled on the road between
division terminals, and switching crews in charge of yard engines.  The
substitute also increases the maximum length of railroad line that is
exempt from full crew requirements from 20 miles to 40 miles in length.