The CSX Employee Who Discovered His Friend run over by two remote-controlled locomotives at a marshalling yard last year, sees a simple solution to prevent similar deaths in the future: a two-person crew.
But that idea won’t be popular with railroads, which increasingly rely on a single person to operate trains in a yard using a remote control while they take trains apart and put them back together. The tactic, first approved in 2005, started with two people on the job to watch for hazards, but one-man remote controls are now common.
The use of remote control operators helps reduce costs by using less experienced workers to move locomotives that help assemble trains — a job that once required licensed engineers who are among the highest-paid railroad workers. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Trainmen and Engineers and other unions are express concerns about the practice recently, especially as remote-controlled trains are now also being used outside marshalling yards to make local trips to pick up and drop off wagons.
The railroads are confident the practice is safe based on years of experience using it. But Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau said the agency is keeping a close eye on the use of remote control after this death and several other recent incidents. The expanded use of remote-controlled trains outside of railroad yards is also drawing attention.
The National Transportation Safety Board provided an update on its investigation into the death of Fred Anderson on Wednesday when it released transcripts of interviews with the employees involved and other information. Anderson was killed on Sept. 17, 2023, when he stepped in front of two locomotives at the CSX yard in Walbridge, Ohio.
Safety on the track has been in the spotlight since last year following the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing evacuations and abandonment Residents with persistent health concerns after a cocktail of toxic chemicals spilled and burned.
When Anderson was killed, the remote control operator was sitting on a ladder at the rear of the second locomotive, with no view of the front of the train. That practice is perfectly acceptable under federal and railroad regulations, because the remote control operator had previously cleared the area around the tracks where he was working.
Anderson and the other carman he was working with, George Oliger, had radioed for permission to enter the area, but Anderson was struck by the train anyway. Oliger told investigators afterward that he believes Anderson’s death could have been prevented if the remote control operator had been at the front of the locomotives or if a conductor or engineer had been controlling them from the cab. He said a traditional crew likely would have seen Anderson and rung the bell to warn him of the danger.
“What does an engineer cost for the night? $350? If we had two men on each shift, to spend $350 to save someone’s life or to make our yard a little safer, I think that’s what we should do, you know. Like I said, if there had been a two-man crew on that shift that night, we wouldn’t be talking,” Oliger said, according to a transcript of his interview.
It’s unclear whether anyone could have stopped the locomotives in time before they hit Anderson, but if someone operating the train had seen him step onto the tracks, they might have been able to warn him. The locomotives were traveling at 10 mph (16 km/h) when they hit Anderson, and the remote control operator told investigators he believes it would have taken the length of an engine to stop them at that speed.
But Randy Fannon, who heads the engineers union’s Safety Task Force, said he believes “this tragic incident in Ohio involving a remote-controlled train, blindly driven from behind, would not have happened if there had been an engineer in the cab.”
Fannon said workers in the marshaling yard are more aware of the risks posed by remote-controlled trains, but the union “consistently opposes the use of remote-controlled trains outside of fenced marshaling yards where pedestrians or vehicles at railroad crossings could come into contact.”
CSX and any directly involved unions are not allowed to discuss Anderson’s death until the NTSB completes its investigation, which the agency has said focuses on training and awareness of CSX’s Carmen safety procedures.
The Federal Railway Administration and CSX both issued advisories following Anderson’s death, reminding all railroad workers to use caution when crossing tracks and to always be aware that a train could cross a track at any time. CSX had its managers emphasize to all of its maintenance workers to look both ways before ever crossing tracks.
Last year, the railroad said it planned no changes to its remote control operations following Anderson’s death, saying it appeared to be in compliance with all federal and CSX regulations at the time.
Safety statistics on train accidents do not provide any clarity on how safe this practice is. The Federal Railroad Administration reports do not distinguish between incidents involving remotely controlled trains and incidents involving trains operated by engineers and conductors.
According to the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen union, three of its members have died in incidents involving remote-controlled trains since 2015.
