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The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a special safety advisory related to the identification and handling of highway-rail grade crossings with vertical profile conditions.  The advisory, formally designated FRA Safety Advisory 2009-03, was issued December 31, 2009 and was published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2010.

The advisory recommends that each state "identify public highway-rail grade crossing where Low Ground Clearance signs have been installed and submit updated data on these crossings to the [U.S.] DOT Crossing Inventory."   It further recommends that the states implement policies and procedures to identify public highway-rail grade crossings that do not satisfy the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (a.k.a. the "AASHTO Green Book") and asks that corrective action be taken to bring them into compliance.

The advisory references earlier U.S. National Transportation Board Safety Recommendations H-96-01, 02 and 04.  Its issuance follows a related action taken in December by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada in response to a recent Canadian accident, in which a low-clearance truck became impaled on a crossing and was then struck by an approaching train.

The complete text of the advisory is available by linking to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-1118.htm.

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