The Transportation Trades Department (TTD), a coalition of 32 member unions, recently sent a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) responding to automated locomotive technology.
“TTD and its rail affiliates continue to strongly support efforts by FRA to ensure that any new locomotive technology is held to high safety standards before it is permitted on the nation’s railways,” the letter said. “To this extent, we support the agency in proactively identifying technical and safety challenges that come with new technologies.”
The FRA will be conducting two automated train studies. The first study will examine the potential for human error while using automated systems and determine what needs to be done to improve safety. Feedback will be used to develop standards, regulations, training and operation procedures, and design standards. The second study will examine prototype design.
The studies are flawed, TTD said. The simulations do not reflect real-life working conditions, and study participants are not a large enough sample size.
The FRA will test two prototypes, one tested by engineers and one tested by students. The TTD is concerned two isolated groups will lead to the overstatement of automotive locomotives’ readiness.
The TTD urges the FRA to consider the limitations of data.