A lack of proficiency in English creates ‘an unacceptable safety risk,’ the Transportation secretary said.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is cracking down on cross-border train operators from Mexico who lack basic English language proficiency, in a bid to make rail operations safer in the United States, the Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a Dec. 19 statement.
This past fall, FRA inspectors conducted routine regulatory oversight of cross-border operations on Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC), finding that several inbound crew members faced difficulty when interpreting General Track Bulletins and communicating safety requirements in English.
DOT highlighted that railroads can only certify locomotive engineers and conductors if they have the required skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to carry out operations safely. Since critical train documents and radio communications are in English, the potential language barriers FRA observed among some of the crew members at CPKC and UP raised safety concerns, it said.
FRA issued letters to UP and CPKC, informing them about the findings made by the agency.
In the letters, FRA clarified that certified crews from Mexico can only operate up to 10 miles into the United States from their point of entry. These crew members must be capable of safe operations in the United States, which requires that they are capable of reading and understanding documents, communications, and instructions in English.
FRA said that inbound uncertified crews cannot operate beyond the nearest crew exchange point as set up by the Customs and Border Protection.
Any incidences of inbound Mexican crews operating in the United States without sufficient English language skills to carry out their duties safely could result in enforcement actions being taken against UP and CPKC, the FRA warned in the letters.
“Whether you’re operating an 80,000-pound big rig or a massive freight train, you need to be proficient in our national language—English. If you aren’t, you create an unacceptable safety risk,” Duffy said.
