Notice2025-22693
Safety Advisory 2025-02; Track Is Clear Determination During Shoving or Pushing Movements Across Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Equipped Only With Flashing Lights or Passive Warning Devices
Primary source
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Published
December 12, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Railroad Administration
Abstract
FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2025-02 to emphasize the importance of determining that the "track is clear" prior to shoving or pushing movements across highway-rail grade crossings (crossings) equipped only with flashing lights or passive warning devices. This advisory focuses specifically on the need for adequate job briefings and visual assessments before railroad equipment traverses a crossing, the action required if a "track is clear" determination cannot be made, and the need for railroads to evaluate certain crossings to determine if it is feasible for an employee riding a shove move to make the track is clear determination. Recent accidents demonstrate that railroads and their employees may require additional training and operational testing to ensure sufficient understanding and compliance with "track is clear" procedures, and in some cases operating rules and/or bulletins need to be updated to require stop and flag at certain crossings. To address these concerns, FRA is recommending that railroads and railroad employees take certain actions to improve the safety of shoving or pushing movements over crossings equipped only with flashing lights or passive warning devices.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 237 (Friday, December 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 237 (Friday, December 12, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57811-57812]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22693]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Safety Advisory 2025-02; Track Is Clear Determination During
Shoving or Pushing Movements Across Highway-Rail Grade Crossings
Equipped Only With Flashing Lights or Passive Warning Devices
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Safety Advisory.
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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2025-02 to emphasize the
importance of determining that the ``track is clear'' prior to shoving
or pushing movements across highway-rail grade crossings (crossings)
equipped only with flashing lights or passive warning devices. This
advisory focuses specifically on the need for adequate job briefings
and visual assessments before railroad equipment traverses a crossing,
the action required if a ``track is clear'' determination cannot be
made, and the need for railroads to evaluate certain crossings to
determine if it is feasible for an employee riding a shove move to make
the track is clear determination. Recent accidents demonstrate that
railroads and their employees may require additional training and
operational testing to ensure sufficient understanding and compliance
with ``track is clear'' procedures, and in some cases operating rules
and/or bulletins need to be updated to require stop and flag at certain
crossings. To address these concerns, FRA is recommending that
railroads and railroad employees take certain actions to improve the
safety of shoving or pushing movements over crossings equipped only
with flashing lights or passive warning devices.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christian Holt, Staff Director,
Operating Practices Division, Office of Railroad Safety, FRA, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 366-0978.
Disclaimer: This Safety Advisory is considered guidance pursuant to
DOT Order 2100.6A (June 7, 2021). Except when referencing laws,
regulations, policies, or orders, the information in this Safety
Advisory does not have the force and effect of law and is not binding
in any way. This document does not revise or replace any previously
issued guidance.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Significant Incidents
On April 23, 2020, in Northlake, Illinois, a Union Pacific Railroad
Company remote control operator (RCO) with 21 years of service was
fatally injured while controlling and protecting the point of a remote
control shove movement during daylight hours. Video footage of the
accident indicated the fatally injured employee was riding on the
equipment being shoved. The rolling equipment was moving towards a
passively protected industry crossing equipped only with crossbuck
signs. When the equipment was approximately one-and-a-half railcar
lengths from the crossing, the RCO waved his arm at a semi-truck
approaching the crossing and initiated an emergency brake application.
The equipment the RCO was riding did not stop before entering the
crossing and collided with the semi-truck.
On October 29, 2021, in Houston, Texas, a Watco Rail Services
brakeman with less than one year of service was fatally injured while
protecting the point of a shove movement during nighttime hours. The
brakeman was riding the point of the shove movement as the train was
approaching a private grade crossing and acknowledged via radio that
the engineer was clear to continue shoving. A few seconds later, a
semi-tanker truck turned onto the passively protected crossing without
yielding, colliding with the lead railcar on which the brakeman was
riding.
On March 7, 2023, in Cleveland, Ohio, a Norfolk Southern Railway
Company conductor with 18 years of service was fatally injured when the
black tank car he was riding was struck by a dump truck at a passively
protected private crossing in a steel plant. The incident occurred at
night; however, the yard was lighted, and the conductor had his lantern
on. Prior to the incident, the conductor was in communication with the
engineer via radio.
On December 4, 2025, in Ontario, California, a Union Pacific
Railroad brakeman riding the leading end of a shove movement on an
industrial lead was fatally injured when the train collided with a
semi-truck at a grade crossing equipped only with flashing lights.
Although the accident is still under investigation, preliminary
information indicates that the brakeman was positioned opposite the RCO
who was controlling the movement. Initial findings suggest the train
entered the crossing without confirming the track was clear.
These accidents each involved operations which required compliance
with 49 CFR 218.99(b)(3). Section 218.99(b)(3) requires a crewmember or
other qualified employee to provide ``point protection'' when rolling
equipment is being shoved or pushed. In providing point protection, the
crewmember or other qualified employee must make a visual determination
that the ``track is clear'' before conducting the shoving or pushing
movement. Determining that a ``track is clear'' requires ensuring that
all intervening public and private highway-rail grade crossings,
pedestrian crossings, and yard access crossings are protected. See 49
CFR 218.93 (defining ``track is clear''). Another element of the
``track is clear'' requirement is the visual assessment to determine
the absence of vehicular traffic approaching or stopped at these
crossings. Such assessments must consider any visual impediments that
would prevent the complete assessment of the crossing and the roadway
access to the crossing. If, for any reason, a complete visual
assessment of the crossing cannot be performed, the shoving or pushing
movement must not proceed over the crossing. This includes situations
where weather conditions (e.g., fog, heavy rain), or obstructions like
vegetation, buildings, or vehicles that might make turns off parallel
roads, limit the ability to perform a visual assessment of the
crossing. In such cases, protection must be provided by a designated
and qualified employee who is stationed at the crossing and can
communicate with any train traversing the crossing. Similarly, if point
protection is provided with the aid of technology, ``the technology
must work as intended and most malfunctions of the technology should be
detectable, and result in abandoning the use of the technology for
determining point protection until the malfunction can be corrected.''
See 49 CFR part 218, app. D. The regulation puts the burden on the
railroad to protect crossings during shoving or pushing movements and
thus prevent foreseeable accidents that can occur when point protection
is inadequate.
Unlike trains with locomotives in the lead position, which are
highly conspicuous with headlights, ditch lights, bells, and horns,
rolling equipment being shoved or pushed is typically much less
conspicuous. Motorists stopped at or approaching
[[Page 57812]]
grade crossings equipped only with flashing lights or passive warning
devices may not see or hear approaching movements that are shoved or
pushed. A shoving or pushing movement should proceed only upon
satisfactory visual confirmation by a crewmember or other qualified
employee providing point protection that a grade crossing is devoid of
any stopped or approaching motor vehicles, unless alternative
protection is provided (such as a designated and qualified employee who
is properly stationed at the crossing and can communicate with train
crews).
Recommended Actions
1. Railroads should review their rules related to 49 CFR 218.99,
Shoving or pushing movements, to ensure compliance with the
comprehensive job safety briefing requirement of paragraph (b). This
briefing must delineate the methods of communication to be employed
between the locomotive engineer and the employee directing the
movement, as well as the protocols for ensuring point protection--
especially when a crossing must be protected. Additionally, the
briefing must cover procedures for establishing and verifying that the
track meets the ``track is clear'' criteria in 49 CFR 218.93. Each job
briefing should include the identification and acknowledgment of
passively protected grade crossings that will be encountered during the
shove movement, any unique layout, weather or other environmental
challenges to performing a visual assessment of approaching vehicular
traffic, and the requirement not to enter those crossings until a
complete visual assessment of each crossing is performed and it is
determined that the ``track is clear.''
2. Railroads should review (and update if necessary) all applicable
operating rules to ensure they account for all necessary factors to be
considered in determining whether the ``track is clear'' under 49 CFR
218.99. Recurrent training programs should encompass clear definitions
and identification of grade crossings equipped with only flashing
lights or passive warning devices, emphasize the necessity of a
complete visual assessment (including the specific elements and
procedures it entails), as well as provide examples of unique grade
crossing configurations, weather or other environmental challenges that
may impede a visual assessment of approaching vehicular traffic, and
outline the correct process for determining that the ``track is
clear.''
3. Railroads should review and evaluate existing operational
testing data as required by 49 CFR 217.9(e) relevant to the operation
of shoving or pushing movements over grade crossings. Railroads should
identify crossings equipped with only flashing lights or passive
warning devices in their territory, prioritize those crossings with
unique crossing configurations or subject to weather or other
environmental challenges that may impede a visual assessment of
approaching vehicular traffic, and perform operational testing at
selected locations. Railroads should consider varying crossing
locations and operational testing times to help determine the actual
level of proper point protection and ``track is clear'' rule
compliance.
4. Railroads should implement a program to evaluate all crossings
equipped only with flashing lights or passive warning devices to
determine if it is feasible within the operating environment for an
employee responsible for the safety of operations across the crossing
to determine if the track is clear, taking account of obstructions,
weather conditions and the ability of the employee to clearly see and
timely communicate unsafe conditions, such as approaching traffic.
Based on this evaluation, railroads should update operating rules and/
or bulletins to require employees to be stationed at the grade crossing
to provide protection (i.e. stop and flag) where the evaluation
determines it is not feasible for a riding employee to safely ascertain
if the track is clear.
FRA encourages railroads to take actions consistent with the
preceding recommendations. FRA may modify this Safety Advisory 2025-02,
issue additional safety advisories, or take other appropriate action
necessary to ensure the highest level of safety on the Nation's
railroads, including pursuing other corrective measures under its rail
safety authority.
Issued in Washington, DC.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2025-22693 Filed 12-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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