New safety rules set training standards for train dispatchers and signal repairmen

abcnews.go.com:

New federal certification rules have been finalized for train dispatchers and signal repairmen will set minimum standards for those jobs to counteract the investor pressure on railroads to continually cut costs while making sure those employees have th...

OMAHA, Neb. — New federal certification rules finalized Monday for train dispatchers and signal repairmen will set minimum standards to counteract the investor pressure on railroads to continually cut costs while making sure those employees have the skills they need to operate all the high-tech systems on today’s trains.

The new Federal Railroad Administration rules are the latest steps in the agency’s broad efforts to improve rail safety since the disastrous East Palestine derailment in Ohio last year although these rules were in the works years before that train crash.

FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in an interview with The Associated Press that both these crafts of workers are responsible for some of the advanced technology railroads rely on like the assortment of trackside detectors that help spot mechanical problems before they can cause derailments, so it made sense to set certification standards for them.

“Here’s the bottom line for me, we want to make sure that qualified workers are doing the jobs that they are specialists in to do,” Bose said. And even though technology can help railroads improve safety, he said the FRA wants to make sure that it supplements but doesn't replace existing efforts like visual inspections.

Bose said dispatchers play a key role in operating the automatic braking system known as Positive Train Control that Congress required the railroads to install. Plus, modern dispatching centers are filled with banks of massive monitors at