Data / Federal rules / 2026-15605
Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers and Conductors; English Language Proficiency and Other Requirements
The Federal Railroad Administration published this proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 31, 2026. Comments closed on September 29, 2026.
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What the agency says
FRA proposes to amend its regulations governing the qualification and certification of locomotive engineers and conductors to establish English language proficiency as a requirement for a railroad carrier to certify and recertify locomotive engineers and conductors. FRA also proposes that each railroad carrier conducting a triennial examination of skill performance, and an annual operational monitoring observation for locomotive engineers, which are current requirements, conduct those examinations and observations without engaging energy management systems that limit the need for a locomotive engineer to operate the throttle or braking systems. Further, FRA proposes to codify limitations on operations at the southern border, including a 10 route-mile geographic limitation, to ensure domestic training, testing, and certification requirements for Mexican crew members are adequate. In addition, FRA proposes changes to clarify that a locomotive engineer or conductor's territorial qualification is limited to the specific direction of travel traversed during the qualification process.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-15605
- Type
- Proposed rule
- Action
- Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM)
- Agency
- Transportation Department; Federal Railroad Administration
- Published
- July 31, 2026
- Comments due
- September 29, 2026
- Dates
- Written comments must be received on or before September 29, 2026. FRA will consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable.
- Docket
- Docket No. FRA-2026-2014; Notice No. 1
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 2130-AD65
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 49 CFR 240; 49 CFR 242
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Penalties; Railroad employees; Railroad safety; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
- Pages
- 19
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Everything from the Federal Railroad Administration · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on penalties · Rules on railroad employees · Published in July 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.