Driverless locomotives? Not likely
The rail industry questions the fairness of a federal push for driverless trucks as crews may be mandated for trains.
Peter Mills sees an inconsistency. One arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation is recommending two-person crews be required for freight trains as another plans to spend billions to help develop driverless technology for long-haul trucks.
“Anything that tilts the competitive playing field concerns me,” said Mills, chief executive officer of Indiana Rail Road. “We’re very truck-competitive.”
The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed the mandate for two operators in many freighttrain locomotives, which would lock in an imperative unions have negotiated in contracts. According to rail carriers, it would also prevent them from taking full advantage of systems for remote oversight that they’re installing, at a cost of about $10 billion and on the order of Congress.
There were two crew members in each of the cabs of BNSF Railway Co. trains that collided in Texas last week. Of the four employees, one was injured, two were killed and one is missing.
Lawmakers passed a law demanding the remote-oversight systems after a 2008 commutertrain accident in California killed 25 people. Once operational, they may allow all locomotives to operate safely with one person in the cab or eventually to be fully automated, said Lance Fritz, CEO of Union Pacific Corp., the largest publicly traded railroad.
“We should allow technology to take us where it will,” he said.
Fritz called it “pretty ironic” that the government seems to be doing that when it comes to the trucking industry. The National Highway Safety Transportation Administration has embraced autonomous vehicles, including trucks hauling freight, and plans to spend $3.9 billion over a decade to foster the technology.
“If that’s happening in one mode, why are they coming out with the regulation that locks us into two people in the cab?” said Ed Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads.
The government’s support of autonomous technologies is designed to reduce risks across all modes of transportation, said Clark Pettig, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, in an e-mailed response to questions.
“Our bottom line is ensuring that the people and goods traveling on our nation’s roads and rails get where they’re going safely.”
The last time the U.S. angled the field in favor of trucks — with the interstate highway system beginning in the late 1950s — the rail industry almost went bust within a couple of decades. Congress rebalanced things with the 1980 Staggers Act, deregulating rail-freight rates and allowing carriers to close unprofitable lines.
The Federal Railroad Administration plans to hold public hearings on the proposed regulations on July 15. Many local governments support them. The Georgia Municipal Association said in public comments that mandating two-person crews, with exemptions for smaller railroads, “will be an important step to enhance safety along rail lines that go through Georgia’s cities.”