C.F.R. » Title 49 » CHAPTER II—FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › PART 218—RAILROAD OPERATING PRACTICES › Subpart F—Handling Equipment, Switches, and Fixed Derails

49 C.F.R. § 218.103

Hand-operated switches, including crossover switches

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(a)(1) Each railroad shall adopt and comply with an operating rule which complies with the requirements of this section. When any person including, but not limited to, each railroad, railroad officer, supervisor, and employee violates any requirement of an operating rule which complies with the requirements of this section, that person shall be considered to have violated the requirements of this section.

(2) Each railroad shall specify minimum requirements necessary for an adequate job briefing.

(b) General. Employees operating or verifying the position of a hand-operated switch shall:

(1) Conduct job briefings, before work is begun, each time a work plan is changed, and at completion of the work;

(2) Be qualified on the railroad's operating rules relating to the operation of the switch;

(3) Be individually responsible for the position of the switch in use;

(4) Visually determine that switches are properly lined for the intended route and that no equipment is fouling the switches;

(5) Visually determine that the points fit properly and the target, if so equipped, corresponds with the switch's position;

(6) After operating a switch and before making movements in either direction over the switch, ensure that the switch is secured from unintentional movement of the switch points;

(7) Ensure that a switch is not operated while rolling and on-track maintenance-of-way equipment is fouling the switch, or standing or moving over the switch; and

(8) After operating a switch, ensure that when not in use, each switch is locked, hooked, or latched, if so equipped.

(c) Rolling and on-track maintenance-of-way equipment shall not foul a track until all hand-operated switches connected with the movement are properly lined, or in the case of hand-operated switches designed and permitted to be trailed through, until the intended route is seen to be clear or the train has been granted movement authority. When a conflicting movement is approaching a hand-operated switch, the track shall not be fouled or the switch operated.

(d) When rolling and on-track maintenance-of-way equipment has entered a track, the hand-operated switch to that track shall not be lined away from the track until the equipment has passed the clearance point of the track.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2014–2022 · leading case: Harper v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 992 F. Supp. 2d 795 (S.D. Ohio 2014).
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Harper v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 992 F. Supp. 2d 795 (S.D. Ohio 2014). · cites it 27× “This matter is now before the Court for consideration of Plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment as to his claim under 49 C.F.R. § 218.103 . Doc. 69. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs motion.”
Walls v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., Inc. (D. Neb. 2022). · cites it 11× “Walls alleges that when the switch was thrown early, the train on which he was working had to stop, ejecting him from the rear car of the train and causing severe injury to his leg.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.