Trump administration proposes stricter English proficiency rules for Mexican train crews

A new federal initiative seeks to ensure Mexican train crews transporting freight across the U.S. border can comprehend vital safety information in English, while also protecting American jobs from the use of foreign labor.

The proposed rule, announced Friday by the Trump administration, aims to strengthen certification standards for safe train operations. Two major rail unions have praised the measure.

However, Union Pacific and CPKC, the two railroads most directly affected by potential restrictions on Mexican crews, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Association of American Railroads, a trade group, declined to comment, stating it is studying the new regulation.

This action follows December letters from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to CPKC and UP. These communications were prompted by inspections that found train crews often had difficulty understanding English. The government urged the railroads to reexamine their practices, ensuring Mexican crews are English-proficient and do not operate trains more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) inside America.

Last fall, federal inspectors found numerous problems in Union Pacific’s Eagle Pass rail yard and CPKC’s facility in Laredo where train crews were having a hard time understanding operating bulletins and U.S. regulations that require information about hazardous materials and emergency responses to be maintained in English.

At that time, both UP and CPKC pledged to make sure they were following the existing rules, but now the federal government wants to strengthen them “because railroad crews must be able to communicate fully and accurately when crossing into the United States, most notably with dispatchers and emergency responders during a crisis, as a safety-critical function.”

This rail safety effort aligns closely with the Transportation Department’s efforts to ensure that truck drivers can understand English, so they can read road signs and warnings and communicate with first responders after an accident or during an inspection. The government has tried to withhold millions of dollars in highway funding from New York and California because it isn’t satisfied with the steps those states have taken to make sure the commercial driver’s licenses they issue are valid.

Mark Wallace, the national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, has been raising concerns about this practice of using Mexican train crews for several years because of safety, security and job concerns.

The union has said that the handoffs used to happen right at the border, but now Union Pacific and CPKC routinely ask Mexican crews to bring trains several miles over the border to one of their railyards where the crew switches can be done more safely. But the firm 10-mile (16-kilometer) restriction in this rule will prevent the railroads from expanding this practice to railyards further into America like the union said UP was considering in New Mexico.

Wallace said the language barrier would pose a hazard in the event of issues such as a derailment.

The SMART-TD union that represents conductors and other rail workers also said the provisions of the rule that will prohibit train crews from using a system that’s similar to cruise control for freight trains when they take their certification tests will help ensure they can operate a train safely.

“Railroad certifications should represent proven ability, not simply possession of a certificate,” said Jared Cassity, who is SMART-TD’s top safety expert. “When lives are on the line, the FRA must know that an engineer can safely operate a train, not just supervise a computer doing it.”