SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine – The City of South Portland has received a request from the union group SMART (the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers) to ban the use of remote-controlled operations (RCOs) at CSX Rigby Yard.
The research that the City has conducted since learning of the group’s request does not at the present time support staff proposing to ban RCOs, which the industry has used for decades. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the agency that regulates the railroad system, concluded in April 2023, “There are no specific concerns with the use of remote-control operators.” While SMART has cited a concern about RCOs at Rigby Yard due to hazmat cars operating on tracks that connect to tracks also utilized by Amtrak passenger trains, Amtrak has not expressed this concern, according to Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (the public transportation authority that oversees the operations of Amtrak’s passenger rail service in Northern New England).
The City of South Portland Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director, Phil Selberg, will continue to research this issue. The City is also investigating what action, if any, the City Council could potentially take, given that certain operations at Rigby Yard are regulated by the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA). However, no Council action is planned or recommended at this time.
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