Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures · 2020. 1....

Public Safety Communications &

Railroad Interaction Standard

Operating Procedures

NENA Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures

NENA-STA-013.2-2016 (originally NENA 56-507)

DSC Approval: 10/20/2015

PRC Approval: 01/29/2016

NENA Executive Board Approval: 02/11/2016

ANSI Approved: 03/31/2016

Next Scheduled Review Date: 02/11/2019

Prepared by:

National Emergency Number Association (NENA) PSAP Operations Committee, PSAP Operations

Standard Operating Procedures Subcommittee, Railroad/PSAP Interaction Working Group

Published by NENA

Printed in USA



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NENA

STANDARD DOCUMENT

NOTICE

This Standard Document (STA) is published by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)

as an information source for the designers, manufacturers, administrators and operators of systems to be

utilized for the purpose of processing emergency calls. It is not intended to provide complete design or

operation specifications or parameters or to assure the quality of performance for systems that process

such equipment or services.

NENA reserves the right to revise this Standard Document for any reason including, but not limited to:

• Conformity with criteria or standards promulgated by various agencies,

• Utilization of advances in the state of the technical arts,

• Or to reflect changes in the design of equipment, network interfaces or services described herein.

This document is an information source for the voluntary use of communication centers. It is not

intended to be a complete operational directive.

It is possible that certain advances in technology or changes in governmental regulations will precede

these revisions. All NENA documents are subject to change as technology or other influencing factors

change. Therefore, this NENA document should not be the only source of information used. NENA

recommends that readers contact their 9-1-1 System Service Provider (9-1-1 SSP) representative to

ensure compatibility with the 9-1-1 network, and their legal counsel to ensure compliance with current

regulations.

Patents may cover the specifications, techniques, or network interface/system characteristics disclosed

herein. No license expressed or implied is hereby granted. This document shall not be construed as a

suggestion to any manufacturer to modify or change any of its products, nor does this document

represent any commitment by NENA or any affiliate thereof to purchase any product whether or not it

provides the described characteristics.

This document has been prepared solely for the use of 9-1-1 System Service Providers, network interface

and system vendors, participating telephone companies, 9-1-1 Authorities, etc.

By using this document, the user agrees that NENA will have no liability for any consequential,

incidental, special, or punitive damages arising from use of the document.

NENA’s Committees have developed this document. Recommendations for change to this document

may be submitted to:

National Emergency Number Association

1700 Diagonal Rd, Suite 500

Alexandria, VA 22314

202.466.4911

or [email protected]

© Copyright 2016 National Emergency Number Association, Inc.

mailto:[email protected]



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) PSAP Operations Committee, PSAP

Operations Standard Operating Procedures Subcommittee, Railroad/PSAP Interaction Working

Group developed this document.

NENA recognizes the following industry experts and their employers for their contributions in

development of this document.

Executive Board Approval Date: 02/11/2016 ANSI Approved: 03/31/2016

Members Employer

Wendi Lively, ENP, PSAP

Operations Committee Co-Chair

Spartanburg County SC

April Heinze, ENP, PSAP Operations

Committee Co-Chair

Eaton County MI

Lisa Dodson, ENP, WG Co-Chair Tiburon Inc.

Marc Berryman, ENP, WG Co-Chair Mission Critical Partners Inc.

Andrew Trygg Public Safety Training Consultants - 911 Cares

Angela Potenziano Hillsborough County FL

Brad Reinert, ENP Montgomery County PA

Catherine Udenberg Columbia County WA

Cherie Bartram, ENP South East Regional Emergency Services Authority

Gordon Chinander, GISP Metropolitan Emergency Services Board MN

Jim Shepard, ENP 911 Datamaster Inc.

John Haynes Chester County PA

Keith Ducett Jr. Onondaga County Emergency Communications NY

Melissa Tutton, ENP City of Plano TX

Michael Vislocky Network Orange Inc.

Michail Grizkewitsch Federal Railroad Administration

Mike Davis, RPL Ulster County NY

Pete Eggimann, ENP Metropolitan Emergency Services Board MN

Raquel Hunt Federal Railroad Administration

Roger Hixson, ENP NENA

Ron Bonneau, ENP Kent County MI

Sharon Clever Routt County CO

Sonia Moeller Town of Brunswick ME

Stephen O'Conor, ENP Synergem Technologies Inc.

Trevor Knight City of Anaheim CA

Ty Wooten, ENP NENA



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Special Acknowledgements:

Delaine Arnold ENP, Committee Resource Manager, has facilitated the production of this document

through the prescribed approval process.

The Railroad/PSAP Interaction Working Group Working Group is part of the NENA Development

Group that is led by:

• Pete Eggimann ENP and Jim Shepard ENP, Development Steering Council Co-Chairs

• Roger Hixson ENP, Technical Issues Director

• Chris Carver ENP, PSAP Operations Director



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Table of Contents

1 EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 7

2 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 7

2.1 OPERATIONS IMPACTS SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 TECHNICAL IMPACTS SUMMARY........................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 SECURITY IMPACTS SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 8 2.4 DOCUMENT TERMINOLOGY .................................................................................................................................. 9 2.5 REASON FOR ISSUE/REISSUE ................................................................................................................................. 9 2.6 RECOMMENDATION FOR ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORK .............................................................................. 9 2.7 DATE COMPLIANCE .............................................................................................................................................. 9 2.8 ANTICIPATED TIMELINE ........................................................................................................................................ 9 2.9 COST FACTORS ................................................................................................................................................... 10 2.10 COST RECOVERY CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................................... 10 2.11 ADDITIONAL IMPACTS (NON-COST RELATED)................................................................................................. 10 2.12 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR) POLICY .......................................................................................... 10 2.13 ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS, TERMS AND DEFINITIONS ............................................................................... 11

3 RAILROAD AND PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT (PSAP) INTERACTION ......................... 12

3.1 RAILROAD CONTACTING PSAPS......................................................................................................................... 12 3.2 HOW RAILROAD AGENTS OR RAILROAD PERSONNEL CONTACT PSAPS ............................................................. 12 3.3 IF RAILROAD PERSONNEL ARE ON-SCENE ........................................................................................................... 13 3.4 IF THE RAILROAD PERSONNEL OR AUTHORIZED AGENT IS AT A CENTRALIZED LOCATION ................................. 13 3.5 INFORMATION NEEDED BY PSAPS ...................................................................................................................... 13

3.5.1 Location of incident .................................................................................................................................. 13 3.5.2 Type of incident ........................................................................................................................................ 14 3.5.3 Caller Information .................................................................................................................................... 15 3.5.4 Additional Incident Location Information ................................................................................................ 16

3.6 PSAPS CONTACTING RAILROADS ....................................................................................................................... 16 3.7 HOW SHOULD PSAP PERSONNEL CONTACT RAILROADS .................................................................................... 17

3.7.1 Railroad Reference Information ............................................................................................................... 18 3.8 INFORMATION PROVIDED TO RAILROAD OR APPROVED AGENT ......................................................................... 18

3.8.1 Location of Occurrence (supply as much as possible) (Ask RR Contacts of preferred order of location

information) ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 3.9 CALLER INFORMATION ....................................................................................................................................... 19 3.10 SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION (TO BE SUPPLIED WHEN AVAILABLE) ............................................................. 20

4 LIGHT PASSENGER RAIL ........................................................................................................................... 20

5 TRAINING REQUIREMENTS...................................................................................................................... 20

5.1 PSAP .................................................................................................................................................................. 20 5.2 RAILROAD .......................................................................................................................................................... 20

6 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) ............................................................................................ 21

7 NENA REGISTRY SYSTEM (NRS) CONSIDERATIONS ........................................................................ 22

8 DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NENA XML SCHEMA .......... 22



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9 RECOMMENDED READING AND REFERENCES .................................................................................. 22

10 PREVIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................... 23

EXHIBIT A: CLASS 1 RAILROAD EMERGENCY TABLE ............................................................................. 24

EXHIBIT B: TYPE OF RAILROAD INCIDENT ................................................................................................ 25

EXHIBIT C: TYPE OF RAILROAD INCIDENT ................................................................................................ 31

EXHIBIT D: FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION DEFINITION OF “TRESPASSER” ................ 36

EXHIBIT E: FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION’S SPATIAL DATA ............................................ 37



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1 Executive Overview

Railroads travel through tens of thousands of local jurisdictions serviced by approximately 30,000

local emergency response agencies. As a result of moving heavy equipment through multiple

jurisdictions, there are incidents which require local emergency response assistance.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, in 2014 there were over 2000 highway-rail grade

crossing incidents resulting in over 230 deaths and 763 injuries. Additionally, in 2014 there were

over 850 railroad trespasser incidents resulting in almost 500 deaths.

Along with the almost 8,000 Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reportable accidents and

incidents, there are approximately 1.7 million car loads of hazardous materials transported in North

America every year. Local emergency responders are required to respond to the approximately 40 -

50 accident caused releases of hazardous materials and another 600 – 700 non-accident releases of

hazardous materials every year in the US and Canada. In addition, passenger trains have health

related emergencies traveling through local jurisdictions which require medical assistance, or

problems with unruly passengers which require police interaction.

Sometimes these incidents are reported by a local citizen to a local emergency response agency

requiring the emergency response agency to contact the railroad. Sometimes the incident is first

reported by the railroad to the emergency response agency. One key difference from other reports to

and from local emergency response agencies is that the location of the incident is not tied to a

specific address. The location along a railroad is dependent upon the owner of the railroad and the

mile post. The mile post is a sequential mile marker (note that there are not always physical mile

posts along the railroad right-of-way) similar to what is on an interstate system, however, the mile

posts are tied to the owning railroad’s naming protocols. It is important that railroads are able to

communicate the location of incidents to local emergency responders, and vice versa. In addition,

most of the freight rail traffic in the US is handled by the seven larger carriers. These carriers

generally dispatch traffic from central dispatch centers, and often there is no railroad office or

contact located within a local jurisdiction. This means central dispatch centers cannot call 9-1-1

when contacting an emergency response agency and must have a 10-digit phone number to contact

the local agency. Likewise, the general public often does not know who owns the tracks on which

an incident has occurred, and hence a local emergency response agency might not know that

information when reporting an incident to a railroad. This document describes a protocol for

communicating between railroads and emergency response agencies to make the process of getting

assistance to incidents along rail lines as efficient and effective as possible. Introduction

2 Introduction

This document provides guidance and relevant information for operational interaction between

public safety answering points (PSAPs), public safety communications, railroad call centers,

railroad-sworn personnel in the field, and related railroad responders.

PSAPs may receive emergency calls from railroad call centers, railroad-sworn personnel or similar

parties relating to railroad incidents. PSAPs must interact with railroad call centers and other railroad



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personnel when the PSAP becomes aware of an incident requiring emergency assistance involving a

railroad.

Emergency response agencies generally respond to calls from the public by responding to an address

or street intersection. Railroad incidents generally do not have a street address and instead use a mile

post or crossing identification system to describe their location. Railroad dispatch centers and

operations control centers are generally centrally located. This means a railroad responding to, or

reporting an emergency, may be located in a state other than where the incident occurred.

This poses communication challenges to the railroads and local emergency response agencies. These

challenges can be overcome by having proper communication protocols in place before an

accident/incident occurs. This document defines an effective communication protocol between

railroads and local emergency response agencies.

This Standard is intended to aid Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP), railroad communication

centers, and railroad personnel in the development and implementation of standard operating

procedures for emergency communications protocols pertaining to railroad and railroad related

emergencies.

2.1 Operations Impacts Summary

Unfamiliarity with railroad nomenclature and processes may cause miscommunication between

agencies. Creating, implementing and training PSAP personnel to standard operating procedures will

allow effective communications with railroad and railroad related personnel.

This will require PSAPs to develop operational policies for managing railroad personnel

interactions, as well as incorporate new techniques into telecommunicator training curriculum. This

may create new or additional tasks for telecommunicators that will impact a PSAP’s current

operations. PSAP management should identify, review, and address all potential operational

interactions with railroad call centers and similar railroad related personnel, in order to provide

telecommunicators with the proper tools and processes to effectively interact; these may include

training, SOP development, and implementation of the SOPs.

2.2 Technical Impacts Summary

PSAPs should have Internet access to obtain web based services that contain railroad related

information.

PSAPs should integrate railroad spatial data into their map displays and update regularly.

Local grade crossing information needs to be field verified by local entities. Discrepancies in

positional accuracy between PSAPs and the railroad spatial data should be reported to the Federal

Railroad Administration.

2.3 Security Impacts Summary

The railroads may have PSAP 10 digit numbers that are not intended for public knowledge and

should not be shared with any other agencies or the general public. PSAPs may have confidential



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information related to rail road operations and contact information that must also be considered

private and confidential. Due to responder safety, all information shared between the PSAP and

railroad personnel should be considered confidential and for official business only.

If there are any questions in regards to a caller being associated with a PSAP or with a railroad, the

agency should follow their established procedures for verifying the identity of a caller.

2.4 Document Terminology

The terms "shall", "must", "mandatory", and "required" are used throughout this document to

indicate normative requirements and to differentiate from those parameters that are

recommendations. Recommendations are identified by the words "should", "may", "desirable" or

"preferable".

2.5 Reason for Issue/Reissue

NENA reserves the right to modify this document. Upon revision, the reason(s) will be provided in

the table below.

Document Number Approval Date Reason For Changes

NENA 56-507 04/28/2009 Initial Document

NENA-STA-013.2-2016 03/31/2016 Document is being reissued due to age and ANSI

approved in order to comply with industry

changes and evolution.

2.6 Recommendation for Additional Development Work

This document is intended to provide support to public safety and railroad personnel during incidents

on, or near, railroad properties and related right of ways. There may be a need for development of

additional operations or technical standards as a result of this Standard.

Evolving technology will require this Standard to be revisited yearly to determine if additional

information needs to be added or obsolete information removed from this standard.

2.7 Date Compliance

All systems that are associated with the 9-1-1 process shall be designed and engineered to ensure

that no detrimental, or other noticeable impact of any kind, will occur as a result of a date/time

change up to 30 years subsequent to the manufacture of the system. This shall include embedded

application(s), computer-based or any other type application.

2.8 Anticipated Timeline

NENA, 9-1-1 and specific Federal entities promotion of this standard will assist in this standard

gaining acceptance.



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2.9 Cost Factors

With the implementation of this standard, there may be fiscal impact to PSAP operations. This

Standard provides recommendations for incorporating new procedures into existing agency policies

as well as additional training for telecommunicators. PSAP management should review this standard

to determine the best manner to implement. Implementation of this standard may incur cost to the

PSAP or 9-1-1 Governing Authority, related to:

• PSAP awareness

• Training

• SOP Development

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data updating

• Integration of new technologies into the PSAP

• PSAP Security considerations for accessing the Internet

2.10 Cost Recovery Considerations

Normal business practices applicable to the local PSAP or 9-1-1 authorities shall be assumed to be

the cost recovery mechanism.

2.11 Additional Impacts (non-cost related)

The information and requirements contained in this NENA document may have 9-1-1 center

operational impacts.

2.12 Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy

NOTE – The user’s attention is called to the possibility that compliance with this standard may

require use of an invention covered by patent rights. By publication of this standard, NENA takes

no position with respect to the validity of any such claim(s) or of any patent rights in connection

therewith. If a patent holder has filed a statement of willingness to grant a license under these

rights on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions to applicants desiring to obtain

such a license, then details may be obtained from NENA by contacting the Committee Resource

Manager identified on NENA’s website at www.nena.org/ipr.

Consistent with the NENA IPR Policy, available at www.nena.org/ipr, NENA invites any interested

party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary

rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement this standard.

Please address the information to:

National Emergency Number Association

1700 Diagonal Rd, Suite 500

Alexandria, VA 22314

202.466.4911

or [email protected]

http://www.nena.org/ipr

http://www.nena.org/ipr




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2.13 Acronyms/Abbreviations, Terms and Definitions

See NENA-ADM-000, NENA Master Glossary of 9-1-1 Terminology, located on the NENA web

site for a complete listing of terms used in NENA documents. All acronyms used in this document

are listed below, along with any new or updated terms and definitions.

Term or

Abbreviation

(Expansion)

Definition / Description **New

(N) /

Update

(U)

AAR (Association

of American

Railroads)

N

ASLRAA

(American Short

Line Railroad

Association)

N

BTS (Bureau of

Transportation

Statistics)

N

CPR (Cardio

Pulmonary

Resuscitation)

DOT (Department

of Transportation)

EMS (Emergency

Medical Service)

ENS (Emergency

Notification System)

EOC (Emergency

Operations Center)

ETA (Estimated

Time of Arrival)

FCC (Federal

Communications

Commission)

FIPS (Federal

Information

Processing

Standards)

FRA (Federal

Railroad

https://www.nena.org/?page=Glossary

https://www.nena.org/?page=Glossary



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Term or

Abbreviation

(Expansion)

Definition / Description **New

(N) /

Update

(U)

Administration)

GIS (Geographic

Information System)

Nlets (National Law

Enforcement

Telecommunications

System)

Pantograph A jointed framework conveying a current to a train,

streetcar or other electric vehicle from overhead wires.

N

POI (Point of

Impact)

N

PSAP (Public Safety

Answering Point)

An entity responsible for receiving 9-1-1 calls and

processing those calls according to a specific operational

policy

US DOT Grade

Crossing Number

A crossing inventory number containing six digits

followed be an alphabetical letter.

N

USDOT (United

States Department

of Transportation)

3 Railroad and Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Interaction

3.1 Railroad Contacting PSAPs

Railroads or railroad personnel or their authorized agents may need to contact the PSAP for many

reasons including:

• Any emergency needing response from the local law enforcement, fire department or

emergency medical services (EMS)

• When an incident has occurred that could adversely affect the public

• When a train will be blocking a crossing or crossings for an extended period of time, e.g.

30 minutes or more

3.2 How Railroad Agents or Railroad Personnel Contact PSAPs

Railroad personnel or authorized railroad agents may contact the correct PSAP through:

• NENA PSAP Registry

• Railroad produced contact list of verified PSAP 10 digit emergency numbers.

• Working with local PSAPs, emergency response agencies or Emergency Management



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Agencies to obtain the local PSAP contact information.

o After contacting the local PSAP the railroad and PSAP should work together to establish

a “priority” ten digit number for the railroads and their authorized agents to contact the

PSAP. This “priority” ten-digit number should be a number that is answered 24/7, since

railroad entities may not be local, but are calling on behalf of a local railroad incident. It

must be clear to the railroads this number is not to be shared with outside entities, agents

or personnel for any reason.

• Commercially available lists of PSAPs

o Caution: PSAP jurisdictional areas change often due to a number of factors. Railroad

personnel and authorized agents must be aware that commercially available lists of PSAP

phone numbers and PSAP jurisdictional areas should always be considered suspect.

PSAP’s rarely provide their 10 digit emergency numbers to anyone and PSAP and

emergency services boundaries are in a constant state of flux.

3.3 If Railroad Personnel are On-scene

Call 9-1-1 and provide location information, either by a physical address, cross streets, nearest grade

crossing, identifiable landmarks, railroad milepost and subdivision or longitude and latitude

coordinates. Stay on the phone with the PSAP until emergency services are on scene.

3.4 If the Railroad Personnel or Authorized agent is at a Centralized Location

Determine the PSAP associated with the location of the incident. Call the PSAP for the given

location, and provide location information, either by a physical address, cross streets, nearest grade

crossing, identifiable landmarks, railroad milepost and subdivision or longitude and latitude

coordinates. Stay on the phone with the PSAP until emergency services are on scene.

3.5 Information needed by PSAPs

When providing information to a PSAP, avoid industry jargon or codes. Use clear text or plain

English. The following questions are generic in nature, and are only guidelines. The nature of the

incident will vary dependent on the situation and your PSAP’s procedures. The following

information should be used as a guide to assess the incident with information that should be provided

to the PSAP:

3.5.1 Location of incident

• Address, Street, Community, Landmark, National Grid, Cross Street(s), distance

and direction from nearest rail grade crossing, grade crossing number, location of

incident or longitude and latitude of incident.

• Accessibility of location

• Single railcar or multiple railcars involved in incident

• Is the train involved still moving or will it be stopping, if so where will it stop

• Current location of the engine and involved railcars

• Current location of Conductor



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• Current location of the engine and any non-rail vehicles

3.5.2 Type of incident

Do not delay initiating a call to the PSAP due to lacking of any of the particulars listed below. The

list below is recommendations, individual PSAP’s may vary.

• Nature of Incident

• Accident

o Derailment,

o Auto vs train accident

• Crime

o Burglary

o Suspicious activity

o Terrorist

• Any known injuries

o Estimated number of injuries

o Medical details

o Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) initiated

• Type of response requested

o Law Enforcement

o Fire

o Medical

o Hazmat

• Type of Train

o Passenger

o Freight

o Other

• Is the train stopped

• Has all other train traffic on the line been stopped

• Any active fires

• Hazardous materials involved

o Department of Transportation (DOT) Hazmat placard number(s)

o Hazardous material name

o Manifest available

o Derailed, leaking or suspect car



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o Estimate rate of release

• How many crossings are blocked and the crossing(s) location information

• Railcars involved

• How many cars total on the train

• Railway infrastructure damage (may or may not involve a railway incident)

• Damage to existing infrastructure, i.e. adjacent utilities

• If weapons related incident, do we know what they are

• Suspect/Victim Information

o Name

o Physical Descriptor - Usually from head to toe

o Sex

o Race

o Hair

o Clothing

o etc.

• What other agencies have been notified (security, hazards, DOT, etc.)

• Additional railroad units dispatched and estimated time of arrival (ETA)

• Vehicle Information (this could be either suspect or victim vehicle)

o Vehicle Description

o C=Color

o Y=Year

o M=Make

o B=Body Style

o A=Additional Descriptors

o L=License Plate

o S=State

3.5.3 Caller Information

• Name of caller or rail communication center

• 10-digit call back number

• Are you at the scene

• Name or Operator ID and the name of the railroad

• Agency and/or railroad of caller

• Alternate 10-digit call back number

• Agency's/railroad’s service report number (case number, incident #)

• Any contact with persons on train



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• Has railroad set up “command” on site

• If so, contact information of on-site command

3.5.4 Additional Incident Location Information

• What grade crossings will be blocked (footprint of incident)

• Estimate of how long grade crossings be blocked, i.e. ETA of clearing

• Any waterway(s) affected

• Which waterways

• How affected

• Is incident near a municipality or in a rural area

• Additional hazards adjacent or within proximity of the incident i.e. chemical plants, public

facilities, public access areas

• Any visible overhead facilities or structures that may be impacted

• Any barriers to reaching the incident scene that responders need to be aware of

3.6 PSAPs Contacting Railroads

• Any time emergency responders are handling an active emergency in the vicinity

of the railroad tracks or the railroad right-of-way

• Any time first responders are operating on railroad property or adjacent to railroad

property or right-of-way where there is a potential for railroad equipment to come

into contact with personnel

• Any time a local emergency response agency identifies an accident/incident or unsafe

condition on railroad property or adjacent to railroad property or right-of-way

• Any time active criminal activity or a threat is reported on railroad property or adjacent

to railroad property or right-of-way

• Railroad signal malfunctions impeding traffic flow

• Check with the railroad personnel to determine if there is a reason the

signals are remaining in the down position

• When a crime scene or on-going emergency operations are within the railroad

right-of-way1

• When train service may be passing through a plume of toxic or hazardous material

1 Railroad right-of-ways are defined in 43 U.S. Code §934: “The right of way through the public lands of the United States is

granted to any railroad company duly organized under the laws of any State or Territory, except the District of Columbia, or by

the Congress of the United States, which shall have filed with the Secretary of the Interior a copy of its articles of

incorporation, and due proofs of its organization under the same, to the extent of one hundred feet on each side of the central

line of said road; also the right to take, from the public lands adjacent to the line of said road, material, earth, stone, and timber

necessary for the construction of said railroad; also ground adjacent to such right of way for station buildings, depots, machine

shops, side tracks, turnouts, and water stations, not to exceed in amount twenty acres for each station, to the extent of one

station for each ten miles of its road.”



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• When you are unsure if it involves the railroad property or adjacent right-of-way,

contact the railroad companies to make them aware

3.7 How Should PSAP Personnel Contact Railroads

Generally, grade crossing signs have the operation control center phone numbers posted on the sign,

along with a crossing number identifying the specific crossing. The table below provides the Class 1

railroad carriers names and contact numbers at the time this document was published. These

numbers may change without any notice being provided to the PSAPs. These Class 1 contact

numbers should be verified on a monthly basis.

In some areas the railroad that owns the track may have operating agreements with other railroads

that need to be contacted in the event of an incident. When making notification of a rail incident,

PSAPs should contact the central dispatch center for the railroad track, as they are responsible for

monitoring the traffic along that track. Information may be gathered to assist in pre-planning by

referencing the following:

- The Emergency Notification Sign posted at the highway railway grade crossing

- National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (Nlets), updated frequently

- FRA Grade Crossing locator application

Class 1 Railroad Emergency Telephone Numbers:

Amtrak 800-331-0008

BNSF Railway 800-832-5452

CN Railway 800-465-9239

Canadian Pacific Railway 800-716-9132

CSX Transportation 800-232-0144

Kansas City Southern Railroad 877-527-9464

Norfolk Southern Corporation 800-453-2530

Union Pacific Railroad 888-877-7267

Other railroads contact information may

be found at: www.aslrra.org/home/index.cfm

Non-Class 1 railroad contact numbers are available through the Association of American Railroads

at: https://www.aar.org/

http://www.aslrra.org/home/index.cfm

https://www.aar.org/



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3.7.1 Railroad Reference Information

It is important that PSAPs check with the railroads in their jurisdiction and keep the

information up to date. There may be other railroads in the area for which verification of

contact information is needed.

PSAPs can locate information on railroads operating in their jurisdictions by visiting the Federal

Railroad Administration’s (FRA) website at www.fra.dot.gov. Grading crossing and spatial data is

available from FRA as a download. Additionally, a smartphone application is available for iOS and

Android systems to quickly identify contact information for grade crossings.

At the time of this document revision, FRA, in partnership with the National Law Enforcement

Telecommunications System (Nlets), is developing the ability for emergency response agencies to

query via Nlets against the FRA’s Grade Crossing Inventory Records System. This will provide

PSAPs and emergency responders with pertinent information on requested grade crossings to assist

with response and appropriate notifications. The anticipated completion of this project is expected

to be Spring 2016. PSAPs with access to Nlets should contact their state Nlets agency for additional

information.

3.8 Information Provided to Railroad or Approved Agent

3.8.1 Location of Occurrence (supply as much as possible) (Ask RR Contacts of preferred

order of location information)

• City, County, State

• US DOT grade crossing number for the nearest street or road crossing the tracks2

• What street(s) cross the tracks (if the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)

crossing number is not available)

• Milepost (Railroad Subdivision if known)

• Crossing locations

• Nearest cross-street, identify street name alias as well as common name (IH 35 = Main St in

town)

• Distance and compass direction from nearest crossing

• Nearest rail station (if known)

• GPS latitude and longitude

• Nature of the Call (Call Type)

• Do trains need to be stopped or slowed down? (if unsure, explain situation)

• Give Railroad brief details of incident (Law Enforcement, Fire, Medical, Hazmat,

2 The USDOT number is posted on every public and private highway-rail grade crossing. The Federal Railroad Administration

(FRA) has developed a smart phone Rail Crossing Locator app. This app can be used to locate highway-rail grade crossings

and then explore detailed information from the USDOT's grade crossing database(s) including inventory records submitted by

states and railroads, and accident history records. Users can also select from multiple base maps and identify railroad crossings

by characteristics. The app can be downloaded from http://fra.dot.gov/Page/P0703

http://www.fra.dot.gov/



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weapons, vehicle on tracks, suspect being pursued, other, etc.)

• Is there damage done to railroad property, (signal box, gates, crossbars, railroad

cars/locomotive)

• If suspect is being pursued, need to know if they are potentially armed and their

direction of travel. (Railroad may ask additional questions)

• Any known injuries

• Notification of public safety personnel on scene or responding

• Is anyone (or vehicle or equipment) actually on the tracks or near the tracks

If the incident is on the tracks, the railroad will stop trains. Do not assume railroad is shut down

until confirmed by controlling railroad. Trains do not stop immediately and all tracks should be

considered live unless otherwise advised. Expect trains from either direction of a track.

Note: PSAPs should add railroad companies to their emergency notification procedures to make

them aware of when a train may be entering a hazardous area. PSAPs should consider using

Emergency Notification Systems (ENS) when there are railroad right–of-way incidents. ENS would

also be useful for notifying the public when railroad equipment is blocking roadways for an

extended period of time.

3.9 Caller Information

• Name (Last, First or Operator/Dispatcher #)

• Agency of caller

• Call back number

• Agency's service report number (case number, incident number)

• Is there an “incident commander” on site? If so, contact information

• Identify who is handling the call (which agency) and if they are on the tracks.

• Is there any other additional critical information

• Provide additional contact numbers for public safety personnel on the scene (Point of Impact

(POI), Emergency Operation Center (EOC) personnel)

• Provide e-mail, instant messaging and additional methods of communication with incident

command or other public safety personnel

• If Public Safety asks railroad to slow or stop trains, Public Safety must call the railroad

as soon as possible to resume normal traffic. Railroad dispatch is authorization point for

train crew to slow, stop or start up trains

• Railroad would like a rough time of delay (need to get alternate transportation etc. for

passengers if delay is long)

• The PSAP is responsible to notify the railroad when track is cleared of Public Safety

activity



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Do not ask railroads to stop trains unless absolutely necessary. Stopping train traffic is more

complicated than closing a freeway and can result in traffic problems for hundreds of miles

immediately, and a thousand miles in a few hours.

3.10 Supplemental Information (to be supplied when available)

• Are there any hazardous materials involved

• PSAP should pass along information if they are aware of any hazardous materials involved

• PSAPs should ask the railroad if the area of track involved in an incident is electrified

4 Light Passenger Rail

Light Rail systems are a transit mode that is typically an electric railway with a light volume traffic

capacity compared to heavy rail and are characterized by:

• Passenger rail cars operating singly (or in short, usually two car, trains) on fixed rails in

shared or exclusive right-of-ways

• Low or high platform loading; and

• Vehicle power drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley or a pantograph

Light rail systems are covered under the Federal Transit Administration, and as such, this standard

does not presently apply to light rail agency interaction. PSAPs should discuss responses and best

practices with their local light rail agency.

5 Training Requirements

5.1 PSAP

No-cost training materials are available for download for training PSAP personnel and

educating PSAP communities from Operation Lifesaver, Inc. These materials can be found

on their website at www.oli.org.

It is recommended that the material contained within this NENA standard document be incorporated

into Telecommunicator training materials.

At the time of this document revision, the Federal Railroad Administration was in the process of

developing no-cost training to be made available to the PSAP and emergency responder community.

It is anticipated that this material will be available Spring 2016.

5.2 Railroad

Materials from this Standard Document should be included in Railroad Operations Control Center

personnel training materials.

http://www.oli.org/



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6 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are the RRs private or publicly owned?

Mostly railroads are privately owned. There are a few railroads which are publicly owned such as

the Alaska Railroad, but the vast majority are privately owned. Railroad property should be

considered private property.

Are the train and the tracks always owned by the same company? If different, who do we

contact?

Sometimes trains operate on tracks owned by other railroads under trackage rights or haulage rights.

Most agreements assign emergency response to the railroad which owns the tracks, so the owning

railroad should be contacted in the event of an emergency. The owning railroad will get the

operating railroad involved as appropriate.

What is a US DOT Number?

A crossing inventory number containing six digits followed by an alphabetical letter

The numbers are generated using a special algorithm where the alphabetical letter is a check

character to ensure that the number is a valid.

The number is like a “street-name sign” and should be posted on both sides of the crossing on the

signal mast, crossbuck post, sign post or pole, or it could even be spray painted on a railroad tie.

What is ENS?

Emergency Notification Systems (ENS) utilized by PSAPs are systems used to notify persons of an

emergency. These systems may include changeable message signs, sirens, telephone and other

media. These systems enable the PSAP to make mass notification to their community of incidents

that may impact citizen safety.

Emergency Notification Systems (ENS) utilized by railroad carriers are toll-free telephone services

that railroad carriers are required to establish and maintain that enable the public to report certain

unsafe conditions at highway rail and pathway grade crossings through which it dispatches trains.

What do the railroad Mileposts measure to/from?

Railroad mileposts are measured from a variety of landmarks depending upon the railroad and

location. Some railroads measure mileposts from origination of the railroad. Others have other

naming criteria based on division/subdivision. PSAPs can contact the Federal Railroad

Administration for spatial data containing milepost data. This data should be validated locally.

How long/far does it take to stop an average train moving 50 mph?

A rule of thumb is that it takes a mile to stop a freight train. Of course that depends upon trailing

tonnage, grade and train speed. PSAPs should be aware that the initial incident location and the

response location may end up being quite a distance apart depending on the speed/weight of the

train.



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7 NENA Registry System (NRS) Considerations

Not Applicable

8 Documentation Required for the Development of a NENA XML Schema

Not Applicable

9 Recommended Reading and References

• Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) website:

www.fra.dot.gov

• FRA’s Railroad Crossings website:

safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/crossing/crossing.aspx

• FRA’s GIS Web Application website:

fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety

• FRA’s GIS Crossings & Publicly Available GIS Data

www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publicat

ions/national_transportation_atlas_database/index.html

• A list of state laws can be found at:

www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0693

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website to convert Latitude/Longitude in

Degrees/Minutes/second to/from Decimal Latitude/Longitude Decimal

www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

• General information about datum’s:

www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml

• Association of American Railroads (AAR) website: (Note: all AAR member’s web sites

are available through AAR’s web site):


• American Short Line Railroad Association (ASLRRA) website:

www.aslrra.org/home/index.cfm

• American Public Transportation Association website:

www.apta.com

• For information and training about Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Collisions

and Railroad Trespass issues visit www.oli.org

• NENA PSAP Registry. Access limited, for access contact NENA.

• Operation Lifesaver website: (a non-profit, international continuing public education

program first established in 1972 to end collisions, deaths and injuries at places where

http://www.fra.dot.gov/

http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/crossing/crossing.aspx

http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/index.html

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/index.html

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0693

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/faq.shtml


http://www.aslrra.org/home/index.cfm

http://www.apta.com/

http://www.oli.org/

http://www.nena.org/?page=PSAP_Registry



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roadways cross train tracks, and on railroad rights-of-way)

www.oli.org

• Citizens for Rail Security, a railroad version of Neighborhood Watch. (There is a section

for law enforcement)

www.citizensforrailsecurity.com

10 Previous Acknowledgments

NENA-56-507, Executive Board Approval Date, 04/28/2009

Members: Company/Agency

Barbara Thornburg, ENP NENA

Amy Bedford Greater Harris County 9-1-1, TX

Ben Pedersen Union Pacific Railroad

Bob Fronczak Association of American Railroads

Cliff Cordani Amtrak

David Lariviere Canadian Pacific Rail

Dick Solie Profile Evaluations

Gerry Fish Canadian Pacific Railway

Gordon Chinander, GISP Metropolitan Emergency Services Board, MN

John Garcia Norfolk Southern Railway

Marc Berryman Greater Harris County 9-1-1, TX

Melissa Tutton, ENP City of Plano 9-1-1, TX

Michael Snowden, ENP St. Charles County, MO

Michail Grizkewitsch Federal Railroad Administration

Michelle Jennings Amtrak

Monte Zillinger BNSF Railway

Raquel Wright Federal Railroad Administration

Sam Raab CSX Railroad

Steve Brooks, ENP Synergem

http://www.oli.org/

http://www.citizensforrailsecurity.com/



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Exhibit A: Class 1 Railroad Emergency Table

Railroad Emergency Telephone

Number

Web Site

Amtrak 800-331-0008 www.amtrak.com

BNSF Railway 800-832-5452 www.bnsf.com

CN 800-465-9239 www.cn.ca

Canadian Pacific 800-716-9132 www.cpr.ca

CSX Transportation 800-232-0144 www.csx.com

Kansas City

Southern

877-527-9464 www.kcsouthern.com

Norfolk Southern 800-453-2530 www.nscorp.com

Union Pacific 888-877-7267 www.up.com

Other railroads contact information may

be found at:

www.aslrra.org

http://www.amtrak.com/

http://www.bnsf.com/

http://www.cn.ca/

http://www.cpr.ca/

http://www.csx.com/

http://www.kcsouthern.com/

http://www.nscorp.com/

http://www.up.com/

http://www.aslrra.org/



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Exhibit B: Type of Railroad Incident

Type of Incident Incident Description

Vehicle on Track Used for incidents where vehicles (autos, trucks,

eighteen wheelers, etc.) become stuck or stalled on the

tracks (requiring action to prevent a potential Crossing

Accident).

Environmental Incident Used for incidents where a non-regulated, non-

hazardous material is released. Environmental Incidents

include a release of diesel fuel; lube oil; white powder on

the tracks; venting tank cars.

Derailment Used for incidents where trains are derailed / come off

the tracks. Trains may derail only one wheel or several

railcars & locomotives.

Company Personal Injury Used for all incidents involving "on the job injuries"

where railroad employees are injured while on duty.

Company Personal Illness Used for all incidents involving "on the job illness"

where railroad employees become ill while on duty.

Non-employee Illness Used for incidents where citizens, passengers or contract

employees, or other non-railroad employees become ill

while on railroad property or on passenger trains. **Do

not use for any incidents that include employee injuries.

Crossing Accident - Property

Damage

Used for all collisions of vehicles and trains that take

place on a recognized D.O.T. railroad crossing that do

not involve injuries or fatalities. Collisions or accidents

that do not occur on recognized D.O.T. crossings should

be labeled as a Trespasser Incidents even if in a vehicle.

Should be labeled as Trespasser Incidents even if in a

vehicle.



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Crossing Accident - Injured Party Used for all collisions of vehicles and trains that take

place on a recognized D.O.T. railroad crossing that

involve injuries to vehicle occupants or the train crew.

Use for incidents where trains strike pedestrians on a

recognized D.O.T crossing that result in injury. Private

Grade Crossings have DOT Numbers. These types of

crashes would be treated like a crash on private property.

Should be labeled as Trespasser Incidents even if in a

vehicle.

Crossing Accident - Fatality Used for all collisions of vehicles and trains that take

place on a recognized D.O.T. railroad crossing that

involve fatalities to vehicle occupants or the train crew.

Use for incidents where trains strike pedestrians on a

recognized D.O.T crossing that result in a fatality.

Private Grade Crossings has DOT Numbers, These types

of crashes would be treated like a crash on private

property.

Injured Party - Trespasser Used for incidents where an individual who was illegally

on railroad property became injured or became ill - not

involving a vehicle and not at a D.O.T recognized

crossing.

Injured Party – Non-Trespasser Used for incidents where citizens, passengers, or other

non-railroad employees are injured or become ill - not

involving a vehicle and not at a D.O.T recognized

crossing. (Non-Trespassers are those who are legally on

railroad property but don't work for the railroad).

Fatality - Trespasser Used for incidents where trespassers, or other non-

railroad employees are fatally injured or killed – not

involving a vehicle and not on a D.O.T. recognized

crossing. (Non-employees are anyone who does not

work for the railroad who is on railroad property

uninvited.



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Fatality – Non Trespasser Used for incidents involving the release of a hazardous

material that is regulated by the Department of

Transportation (D.O.T.). Consult the Code of Federal

Regulations (49CFR§172.101) or the North American

Emergency Response Guidebook for a complete listing.

Train/Vehicle Accident Non-

crossing - Property Damage

Used for all collisions of vehicles and trains that take

place in-between recognized D.O.T. crossings that do not

involve injuries or fatalities. Collisions which occur at

D.O.T. crossings should be labeled as Crossing

Accidents.

Train/Vehicle Accident Non crossing

- Injured Party

Used for all collisions of vehicles and trains that do not

take place at a recognized D.O.T. railroad crossing that

involve injuries to vehicle occupants or the train crew.

Collisions or accidents that occur on recognized D.O.T.

crossings should be labeled as a Crossing Accident.

Train/Vehicle Accident Non-

crossing - Fatality

Used for all collisions of vehicles and trains that do not

take place at a recognized D.O.T. railroad crossing that

involve fatalities to vehicle occupants or the train crew.

Collisions or accidents that occur on recognized D.O.T.

crossings should be labeled as a Crossing Accident.

Uncontrolled Movement of Rail

Equipment / Non-derailment

Used for incidents involving uncontrolled movement of

on track equipment, railcars "rolling free" or the report of

a "runaway" train that does not result in a "derailment."

Fire Related Incident Used for incidents involving a non-arson fire on the right

of way or next to the tracks. These incidents will most

likely also include the Slow Order Request given to Train

Management.

Police Activity - Trespasser on

Tracks/Right of Way

Used for incidents where non-railroad employees are on

unlawfully on railroad property adjacent to the tracks, on

the right-of-way or on the rails themselves.

Police Activity - On Board Train Used for incidents where non-railroad employees/

unauthorized riders are on a train, railcars or

locomotives. On passenger trains, incidents can vary

between non-payment of fare to an armed subject.



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Police Activity - Trespasser within

Railroad Facility

Used for incidents where non-railroad employees are

unlawfully in a railroad Rail Yard. This includes

transients in the yard.

Police Activity – Trespasser in

proximity of Critical Asset

Used for incidents where non-railroad employees are

unlawfully on railroad property such as critical bridges or

buildings. Use for trespassers located in railroad

buildings not on/near the tracks (e.g. headquarters,

dispatch center, shops, etc.)

Police Activity – Vandalism/Graffiti Used for incidents involving vandalism or graffiti to

railroad equipment or property. This includes all spray

painted railcars and bridges, shots fired at signal

equipment or railroad signs, debris stacked on the tracks,

etc.

Police Activity – Theft or Burglary Used for incidents where railroad property, equipment, or

lading from a railcar was stolen. This includes any

attempt to steal an item from, or illegally access, a

railroad building.

Police Activity – Theft or Burglary

in progress

Used for incidents where a caller reports a suspect or

suspects are on scene burglarizing railroad property,

equipment, or lading from a railcar.

Police Activity – Abandoned

Vehicle on Railroad Property

Used for incidents involving a vehicle located on railroad

property where the driver/owner is not present.

Police Activity – Vehicle/Traffic

Accident Non-train Related

Used for incidents involving traffic collisions or vehicle

accidents on railroad property where no trains or on-track

equipment is involved.

Police Activity – Alarm Activation Used for incidents involving any alarm activation at a

railroad building or facility that does not result in a

burglary or trespassers being located.

Police Activity – Passenger Trains All criminal and emergency service types can occur on a

passenger train. Examples include rape, medical, fights,

assaults, domestic, etc.



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Police Activity – Passenger Train

Requests Removal of Passenger

Used for incidents when Amtrak, Metra or any

passenger/commuter lines request assistance in removing

individuals from their trains.

Police Activity – Bomb Threat Used for incidents involving allegations / remarks of a

“bomb” on railroad property, or a suspected explosive

device that is UNFOUNDED.

Police Activity –

Suspicious/Terrorist Activity

Used for incidents involving activities that are “terrorist”

related and do not match other existing incident types.

Police Activity – Arson Used for incidents where fire was deliberately set to

railroad property or equipment. Railroad Special Agents

are usually involved in this determination.

Police Activity – Explosive Device

on Railroad Property

Used for incidents involving a true explosive device that

are located on or detonated in place on railroad property.

Service Interruption - General Used for incidents that do not "fit" into other Service

Interruption incident types. This serves as a "catch-all"

category. These incidents may also include the Slow

Order Request given to Train Management. This incident

type would also include crossing equipment damaged by

vehicles by accident where no vehicle owner information

is available.

Service Interruption – Livestock on

the Tracks

Used for incidents involving cattle, goats, sheep, horses

or any other kind of livestock / animal on or near the

tracks. Also use for incidents where a train struck

livestock. These incidents may also include the Slow

Order Request given to Train Management.

Train Fire Used for a fire involving a train or other rail equipment

on a railroad track, in railroad yards.

Crossing Warning Equipment

Damage

Used for any damage to any grade crossing warning

device but not limited to equipment installed at the grade

crossing

Crossing Blocked by Train Used for a crossing blocked by a stopped train.



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Occupied crossing Used for a crossing blocked by a train that is moving

(could be slow or back & forth when switching).

Specifying the correct situation is important.

Crossing malfunction Used for a warning system malfunction means an

activation failure, a partial activation, or a false activation

of a highway-rail grade crossing warning system. (49

CFR Part 234)

Railcar releasing product Used for substance discharging from a rail car including

such things as liquid or gas leaking from a tank car or

box car, grain leaking from a hopper car, fertilizer

leaking from a hopper car, etc.

Vegetation on Right of Way Used for a situation where vegetation is blocking the line

of sight of approaching trains at grade crossings.

Police Activity General - General

observation

Used for a situation that occurs that is not covered by one

of these other types of railroad incidents described above

(e.g. car accident, etc.)



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Exhibit C: Type of Railroad Incident

Type of Railroad Incident

Federal Railroad Administration’s Crossing and Geographic Information System Data

I. FRA’s Crossing Data

a. Generate a Report

b. Generate a Map

II. FRA’s GIS Crossings and Publicly Available GIS Data

III. FRA’s GIS Web Application

IV. Rail Locator Application

I. FRA’s Crossing Data


Users can put in a USDOT crossing # and create a report or a map




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Note: This information is populated by the railroads and State DOTs. O r i g i n a l l y ,

t h e majority of the GIS layers are 1:100k, so the point locations for the crossings will

sometimes not be directly on top of the intersection of the rail and road.

FRA has made huge strides to realign the rail network to 1:24000 or better

AAR - Association of American Railroads

The central coordinating and research agency of the North American rail industry. It deals with

matters of common concern to member roads; operations, hardware standardization, regulatory

matters research, safety, forecasts, finance, etc. It is dedicated to the standardization of processes and

progress of the rail transportation industry

Car Number

An identification number comprised of initials, which indicate the ownership of the car, and a

number, which specifies the type of car.

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

One of seven major branches under the Department of Transportation. The FRA deals with matters

pertaining to railroads and their operations.

Right of Way

Activation Failure

Occupied Crossing

Railroad Yards

Trespasser

Derailment

Class 1



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a. Generate Report

b. Generate a Map



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FRA’s GIS Crossings & Publicly Available GIS Data

• The GIS layer only contains the crossings that have a valid latitude and longitude. When

FRA processes the data, they check to see if the X & Y’s are in a valid state and county.

FGDC metadata is attached to all Shapefiles for more descriptive definitions.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) releases an annual GIS datasets for all

transportation layers. Anyone can download or order the DVD to obtain the Rail network and

the Crossings.

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_atlas_

database/index.html

• The FRA GIS layers are also available through mapping and feature services using a

REST end point. http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/fragis/rest/services/

II. FRA’s GIS Web Application

http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety.

Web application runs on IE9 or higher, Firefox and Chrome

III. Rail Locator Application

The FRA’s Rail Crossing Locator app makes the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) grade

crossing data more accessible with your Apple or Android device. Similar in function to the web

applications described above, the app helps locate highway-rail grade crossings and explore the

inventory and accident history records. Users can also select from multiple base maps and identify

railroad crossings by characteristics. . NOTE: The Rail Crossing Locator only provides information

for at-grade highway rail crossings from the FRA’s publicly available Crossings GIS layer.

http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety



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The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Questions about the Rail Crossing Locator app? Contact the RCL team at [email protected]




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Exhibit D: Federal Railroad Administration definition of “Trespasser”

Trespassing on a railroad’s private property and along railroad rights of way is the leading cause

of rail-related fatalities in America. Nationally, just under 500 trespassing fatalities each year,

the vast majority of which are preventable. Since 1997, more people have been killed as a result

of trespassing than in motor vehicle collisions with trains at highway-rail grade crossings.

By definition, trespassers are illegally on railroad property without permission. They are most

often pedestrians who walk across or along railroad tracks as a shortcut from one place to

another, or they are engaged in loitering, hunting, dog walking, bicycling, or riding on all-terrain

vehicles, snowmobiles or even horseback.

Overall, the railroad operating environment is inherently a hazardous one for which railroad

employees receive extensive safety training. Trespassers do not have the benefit of this

knowledge nor are they are aware of current and pending train movements, and by failing to

properly use designated crossing locations such as highway-rail grade crossings and dedicated

pedestrian access paths, are susceptible and risk life-threatening injuries or death.

In most states, trespassing is codified as a property crime and a general offense. A number of the

states specifically forbid trespassing on railroad property. A list of state-by-state trespassing laws

is available at: http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0693

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0693



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Exhibit E: Federal Railroad Administration’s Spatial Data

Purpose:

This document describes FRA’s geospatial data that is maintained through, “The Office of Policy

and Communication”.

Data Layers/ Data Dictionaries

Data Dictionaries are subject to change.

Rail Lines: The FRA maintained routable rail network that originally was at 1:100,000, but is

being spatially enhanced to be 1:24,000 or better

Column Name Definition

OBJECTID System Generated

FRAARCID Unique Arc ID

MILES Length of segment

STATEAB State Abbreviation

STATEFIPS State FIPS

CNTYFIPS County FIPS

STCNTYFIPS State and County FIPS

FRAREGION FRA Region (1 – 8)

RROWNER1 Railroad Owner



TRKRGHTS1 Trackage Rights









STRACNET Strategic Rail Corridor Network

FRFRANODE From Arc Node

TOFRANODE To Arc Node

DEN05CODE

Density Code 1 - < 5

2 - >= 5 and < 10

3 - >= 10 and < 20

4 >= 20 and < 40

5 >= 40 and < 60 6 >= 60 < 100:

7 >= 100:



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NET

Type of Rail

A - Abandoned

M - Main sub network

O - Non-Mainline Active Track

F - Ferry

YARDS Yards

SUBDIVI Subdivisions

STRACNET Strategic Rail Corridor Network

S - STRACNET

C - STRACNET Connector

SIGSYS Signal System. Currently Unreliable needs complete review. CTC, ABS, etc.

TRACKS Number of tracks. This data has not been verified

COUNTRY For NTAD extract US rail only using this attribute. U = United States

C = Canada M = Mexico

PASSNGR

Passenger Railroad Operations. Can be concatenated (e.g. AC = Amtrak and

commuter rail). Keep in alphabetical order (e.g. no CA). The only thing that has

been verified is Amtrak. A = Amtrak

C= Commuter

T = Tourist R=Rapid Transit

V = Via Rail Canada

Rail Nodes


FRANODEID Unique Node ID

STATEAB State Abbreviation

STATEFIPS State FIPS

CNTYFIPS County FIPS

STCNTYFIPS County & State FIPS

FRAREGION The Number indicates the region that the spatial data is located in

FREIGHT STATIONS is a layer maintained by RailInc. The data is used at the FRA, but

cannot be supplied. It is a key feature within GIS, but the data must be purchased.

Amtrak Stations

The Amtrak Stations database is a geographic data set containing Amtrak intercity railroad

passenger terminals in the United States and Canada.



STNCODE Unique Station Code

STNNAME Station Name: city and state

ADDRESS1 Primary address of Amtrak Station

ADDRESS2 Secondary address of Amtrak Station

CITY City of the Amtrak Station

STATE State of the Amtrak Station



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ZIP Zip Code of the Amtrak Station

STNTYPE Type of Amtrak Station

STATUS

ACTIVE

CLOSED

SEASONAL

PLANNED

LAT Latitude of point

LON Longitude of Point

Grade Crossings

Highway-railroad grade crossings are intersections where a highway crosses a railroad at-grade.

Grade crossings may be public or private. Public grade crossings are roadways that are under the

jurisdiction of, and maintained by, a public authority. Private grade crossings are on roadways

privately owned, such as on a farm or industrial area, and is intended for use by the owner or by the

owner's licensees and invitees.



CROSSING Unique USDOT ID for the Crossing

SOURCE Source of record

TYPEPOS

Position of Crossing

1 = At Grade

2 = RR Under

3 = RR Over

HIGHWAY Highway type and Number

STREET Street or Road Number

LAT Latitude

LON Longitude

STFIPS State FIPS

CTFIPS State and County FIPS

STATE State Name

COUNTY County Name

State_ABBR State Abbreviation




EFFDATE Effective Date

EDATE End Date

REASON

Reason for Update

1=Changes in Existing Crossing Data



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2=New Crossing

3=Closed Crossing or Abandoned

StateCode State’s Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)

CountyCode County FIPS

STCYFIPS State and County FIPS

CITYCD City FIPS

RAILROAD Railroad Operating Company

RRDIV Railroad Division

RRSUBDIV Railroad Subdivision



TTSTN Timetable Station

MILEPOST Railroad Milepost

TYPEXING

Type of Crossing

1=Pedestrain

2=Private

3=Public

POSXING


1 = At grade under

2 = RR Under

3 = RR over

PRVCAT

Private Xing Category

1 = Farm

2 = Residential

3 = Recreational

4 = Industrial

5 = Commercial

PRVIND

Signs/Signals

1 = signs

2 = signals

3 = no signs or signals

4 = both signs and signals

PRVSIGN Signs-Specify

INIT Initiating Agency

1 = Railroad



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2 = State

3 = DOT

4 = Original FRA internal use.

LATITUDE Latitude

LONGITUD Longitude

STFIPS State FIPS


WHISTBAN

Whistle Ban (Quiet Zone)

0 = no

1 = 24 hour

2 = partial

9 = unknown

RRCONT Railroad Contact

POLCONT Emergency Contact

INV_LINK Inventory link of the grade crossing record

ACC_LINK If applicable, the accident link that occurred at that grade crossing

Mileposts

The milepost layer contains physical location of the mileposts along the rail lines. The mileposts are

assigned by the primary rail owner of the rail line. The data is primarily updated by the FRA

geometry car, but also from State DOT’s and Railroads.



COLLDATE The collection of the data

RAILROAD Rail Owner

MILEPOST Milepost Number

SOURCE State and County FIPS

LAT Latitude

LON Longitude

RR_Milepos Rail Owner & Milepost

STCYFIPS State and County FIPS

Mileposts are available by request to the FRA.



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Railyards

These are yards that were coded in the FRA 1:100k network. A 1 mile buffer was used to create

these polygons



STCTYFIPS State and County FIPS

OR_YARDS Oak Ridge Yards

SUBDIVISIO Oak Ridge Subdivisions

STFIPS State and County FIPS

QuietZones

A highway rail grade crossing were the routine sounding of the locomotive horn has been

silenced in accordance with 49 CFR Part 222


OBJECTID_1 System Generated


SOURCE Source of record

TYPEPOS


1 = At Grade

2 = RR Under

3 = RR Over



LAT Latitude

LON Longitude

STFIPS State FIPS


STATE State Name

COUNTY County Name

INV_LINK Hyperlink to the inventory record

ACC_LINK Hyperlink to the accident record


REPORT_DAT Quiet Zone Report Date

QZID Quiet Zone ID

QZTYPE Quiet Zone Type

BASSECTION STARTDATE Start Date

NOC GXID USDOT Crossing ID



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Rail Subdivision

The subdivisions were coded in the FRA 1:100k network and a 1 mile buffer was used to create

these polygons. This attribute is currently being updated.



SUBDIVISIO

RROWNER

Subdivisions Name

Rail Owner

Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures · 2020. 1....

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