FRA head 'shocked' railroad still has one-man crews
The nation’s top railroad regulator this week criticized the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway for switching to two-person crews in Canada but not the United States after a train crewed by one man and left unattended overnight near the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic slipped its brakes and crashed, killing 47 people in July.
The Portland Press Herald reported Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo wrote to MMA Chairman Ed Burkhardt Wednesday that he was “shocked” that MMA changed its operating procedures in Canada but not in the United States.
“Because the risk associated with this accident also exists in the United States, it is my expectation that the same safety procedures will apply to your operations here,” Szabo wrote.
In the letter, he asked for confirmation that MMA will use two-person crews stateside, which an FRA safety advisory recommends but does not require. Burkhardt, who said previously that one-man crews are critical to the financial viability of MMA’s operations, did not return comment to the Portland paper or the Bangor Daily News. The BDN reported that a spokesman with the U.S. Department of Transportation said the agency could issue an emergency order to require the railroad to use two-man crews and will discuss that option at an upcoming meeting in Washington, D.C.
The company has entered bankruptcy proceedings in Canada, where it was granted permission to operate through Oct. 1, and the United States, where Portland attorney Robert Keach was appointed as the company’s trustee through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday.
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