Federal Railroad Administration June 14, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On March 3, 2023, in response to a series of rail accidents suspected of being caused by burnt journal bearings, FRA published Safety Advisory 2023-01 addressing the use and maintenance of hot bearing detectors (HBDs). Since publication of that Safety Advisory, FRA has continued to evaluate railroads' use of HBDs and on May 10, 2023, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, another accident occurred that is suspected of being the result of a burnt journal bearing. Preliminary information related to this most recent accident shows that the train involved passed a HBD which alarmed prior to the accident. Accordingly, FRA is issuing this Notice to supplement Safety Advisory 2023-01 with one additional recommendation. Specifically, this Notice adds a fifth recommendation to Safety Advisory 2023-01 recommending that railroads take action to evaluate the resiliency and accuracy of the overall process used to monitor and measure bearing health.