Gulf & Ohio Railways
[ The Gulf and Ohio Railways, parent company to the Knoxville and
Holston River Railroad (KXHR), has petitioned for a permanent waiver of
compliance from the requirements of the 49 CFR Federal Track Safety
Standards Part 213.233, Track Inspections. This requirement prescribes
a Gregorian calendar-based frequency for inspecting track to detect
deviations from the standards. Railroads operating passenger trains are
required to schedule a twice weekly track inspection with at least a
one-day interval between inspections.
KXHR began revenue passenger service in early November of 1999.
KXHR schedules passenger operations to begin the last week in March and
end about mid-November of each year. A passenger train operates twice a
day, on Saturdays and Sundays, between milepost 5.8 and milepost 10.8
over the River Front Extension (RFE) track. Freight trains operate
daily, Monday through Friday, throughout the RFE's 11.6-miles. In 2001,
a substantial number of passengers (more than 12,000) rode the
excursion train. In the same year, the traffic density was estimated at
0.072 million gross tons. On the RFE district, KXHR Timetable Number 1
authorizes a maximum speed
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of 15-miles per hour for passenger and 10-miles per hour for freight
trains. The method of operation is Yard Limit Rule (General Code of
Operating Rules). Since 1998, KXHR has operated trains with only one
reportable incident, which was a derailment attributed to an equipment
failure.
KXHR claims the passenger train operation is on consecutive days,
requiring them to make two inspections between Monday and Friday, even
though they do not operate the passenger train between inspections.
KXHR requests relief from the second inspection during the week. In the
event a special train is operated between Monday and Friday, KXHR
states they will conduct the compulsory twice weekly inspections.
U.S. DOT/FRA - Petition for Waiver of Compliance - Gulf & Ohio Railways
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