The Trump administration wants to make sure that the Mexican train crews who haul freight over the border can understand key safety safety information in English and that the common practice of using foreign crews to cross into America doesn’t threaten U.S. jobs. Two major rail unions praised the proposed rule announced Friday that would also strengthen the standards for certifying that crews can safely operate a train. The two railroads that would be directly affected by the restrictions on Mexican crews — Union Pacific and CPKC — did not immediately respond, and the Association of American Railroads trade group declined to comment while it studies the rule. The Federal Railroad Administration sent letters to both CPKC and UP in December after inspections found that train crews often had trouble understanding English during focused inspections. The government urged those railroads to reexamine their practices and make sure that Mexican crews can speak English and don’t operate a train more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) inside America.
Last fall, federal inspectors found numerous problems in Union Pacific’s Eagle Pass rail yard and CPKC’s facility in Laredo where train crews were having a hard time understanding operating bulletins and U.S. regulations that require information about hazardous materials and emergency responses to be maintained in English.At that time, both UP and CPKC pledged to make sure they were following the existing rules, but now the federal government wants to strengthen them “because railroad crews must be able to communicate fully and accurately when crossing into the United States, most notably with dispatchers and emergency responders during a crisis, as a safety-critical function.”
