§ 33.56. Safety of operation of railroad trains.
(a) Conductors and enginemen assigned to trains operating within this Commonwealth shall be fully and timely qualified and conversant with their respective duties and responsibilities, and shall have met the requirements and successfully passed the examinations adopted by the employing railroad or railway company and of any railroad over which such employe is normally required to operate, before a proper officer of such a carrier, for promotion to conductor or engineman.
(b) Such requirements and examination shall include a knowledge of and familiarity with the physical characteristics of the portion of railroad to which the conductor or engineman is assigned.
(c) It shall be the responsibility of each carrier to adopt the measures necessary to insure the availability of an adequate number of qualified enginemen and conductors.
(d) It shall be the responsibility of all train and engine service employes to maintain a knowledge and understanding of current employe timetables and special instructions thereto, general orders, bulletin orders and revisions to operating rules effected by the railroad company.
(e) The circumstances set forth in paragraphs (1)—(3) which follow, shall be considered as exceptions to the rule.
(1) During periods of emergency, the inability of a carrier to furnish a properly qualified conductor for a train will not be considered a violation of this Rule. For purposes of the Rule, an emergency shall be a condition resulting from a hurricane, tornado, cyclone, flood, derailment or other track obstruction, or the temporary loss of an overhead catenary system used for the transmission of electrical energy, and the exception shall be effective for a period not to exceed 48 hours.
(2) In the event that a conductor is incapacitated due to illness or injury, prior to completion of an assignment, and there is no qualified conductor available at such intermediate point, prompt movement of the train to the next designated crew change point will not be considered a violation of this Rule.
(3) The assignment of properly qualified supervisory personnel to operate trains consisting of emergency shipments, during authorized strikes or work stoppages will not be considered a violation of this Rule.
Source The provisions of this § 33.56 were formerly designated Rule 26 by the Commission.
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