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


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2606
By: Alexander
Transportation
3/26/2001
Introduced



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.
House Bill 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

House Bill 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 removes the exemption from full crew
requirements for any railroad company of any line of railroad that is less
than 20 miles in length, a disabled train, and switching crews.  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.