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1 | AN ACT concerning transportation.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 1. Findings. It is the public policy of the State | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | of Illinois to enhance public safety by establishing a minimum | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | freight train operating crew size to address the transportation | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | of all freight, including but not limited to hazardous and | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | volatile materials, on the railroads of Illinois. The | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | transportation of this freight, coupled with substantially | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | longer trains, creates significant health, safety, and | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | security concerns for local communities. Adequate railroad | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | operating personnel are critical to ensuring railroad | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | operational safety and security and in supporting first | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | responder activities in the event of a hazardous material | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | incident, grade crossing incident, or mechanical failure. | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | Section 18c-7402 as follows:
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18 | (625 ILCS 5/18c-7402) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7402)
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19 | Sec. 18c-7402. Safety Requirements for Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | Operations.
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21 | (1) Obstruction of Crossings.
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22 | (a) Obstruction of Emergency Vehicles.
Every railroad |
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1 | shall be operated in such a manner as to
minimize | ||||||
2 | obstruction of emergency vehicles at crossings.
Where such | ||||||
3 | obstruction occurs and the train crew is
aware of the | ||||||
4 | obstruction, the train crew shall
immediately take any | ||||||
5 | action, consistent with safe
operating procedure, | ||||||
6 | necessary to remove the
obstruction. In the Chicago and St. | ||||||
7 | Louis switching
districts, every railroad dispatcher or | ||||||
8 | other person
responsible for the movement of railroad | ||||||
9 | equipment in a
specific area who receives notification that | ||||||
10 | railroad
equipment is obstructing the movement of an | ||||||
11 | emergency
vehicle at any crossing within such area shall
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12 | immediately notify the train crew through use of
existing | ||||||
13 | communication facilities. Upon notification,
the train | ||||||
14 | crew shall take immediate action in accordance
with this | ||||||
15 | paragraph.
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16 | (b) Obstruction of Highway at Grade Crossing | ||||||
17 | Prohibited.
It is unlawful for a rail carrier to permit any | ||||||
18 | train,
railroad car or engine to obstruct public travel at | ||||||
19 | a
railroad-highway grade crossing for a period in excess
of | ||||||
20 | 10 minutes, except where such train or railroad car
is | ||||||
21 | continuously moving or cannot be moved by reason of
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22 | circumstances over which the rail carrier has no
reasonable | ||||||
23 | control.
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24 | In a county with a population of greater than 1,000,000, as | ||||||
25 | determined by
the most recent federal census, during the
hours | ||||||
26 | of 7:00 a.m. through 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m. |
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1 | it is
unlawful for a rail carrier to permit any single train or | ||||||
2 | railroad car to
obstruct
public travel at a railroad-highway | ||||||
3 | grade crossing in excess of a total of 10
minutes during a 30 | ||||||
4 | minute period, except where the train or railroad
car
cannot be | ||||||
5 | moved by reason or circumstances over which the rail carrier | ||||||
6 | has no
reasonable control. Under no circumstances will a moving | ||||||
7 | train be stopped for
the purposes of
issuing a citation related | ||||||
8 | to this Section.
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9 | However, no employee acting under the rules or orders of | ||||||
10 | the rail carrier or
its supervisory personnel may be prosecuted | ||||||
11 | for a violation of this
subsection (b).
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12 | (c) Punishment for Obstruction of Grade Crossing.
Any | ||||||
13 | rail carrier violating paragraph (b) of this
subsection | ||||||
14 | shall be guilty of a petty offense and fined
not less than | ||||||
15 | $200 nor more than $500 if the duration of
the obstruction | ||||||
16 | is in excess of 10 minutes but no longer
than 15 minutes. | ||||||
17 | If the duration of the obstruction
exceeds 15 minutes the | ||||||
18 | violation shall be a business
offense and the following | ||||||
19 | fines shall be imposed: if
the duration of the obstruction | ||||||
20 | is in excess of 15
minutes but no longer than 20 minutes, | ||||||
21 | the fine shall be
$500; if the duration of the obstruction | ||||||
22 | is in excess of
20 minutes but no longer than 25 minutes, | ||||||
23 | the fine shall
be $700; if the duration of the obstruction | ||||||
24 | is in excess
of 25 minutes, but no longer than 30 minutes, | ||||||
25 | the fine
shall be $900; if the duration of the obstruction | ||||||
26 | is in
excess of 30 minutes but no longer than 35 minutes, |
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1 | the
fine shall be $1,000; if the duration of the | ||||||
2 | obstruction
is in excess of 35 minutes, the fine shall be | ||||||
3 | $1,000
plus an additional $500 for each 5 minutes of
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4 | obstruction in excess of 25 minutes of obstruction.
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5 | (2) Other Operational Requirements.
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6 | (a) Bell and Whistle-Crossings.
Every rail carrier | ||||||
7 | shall cause a bell, and a whistle or
horn to be placed and | ||||||
8 | kept on each locomotive, and shall
cause the same to be | ||||||
9 | rung or sounded by the engineer or
fireman, at the distance | ||||||
10 | of a least 1,320 feet, from the
place where the railroad | ||||||
11 | crosses or intersects any
public highway, and shall be kept | ||||||
12 | ringing or sounding
until the highway is reached; provided | ||||||
13 | that at crossings
where the Commission shall by order | ||||||
14 | direct, only after a hearing has been
held to determine the | ||||||
15 | public is reasonably and sufficiently protected, the rail
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16 | carrier may be excused from giving warning provided by
this | ||||||
17 | paragraph.
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18 | (a-5) The requirements of paragraph (a) of this
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19 | subsection (2) regarding ringing a bell and sounding a
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20 | whistle or horn do not apply at a railroad crossing that
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21 | has a permanently installed automated audible warning
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22 | device authorized by the Commission under Section
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23 | 18c-7402.1 that sounds automatically when an approaching
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24 | train is at least 1,320 feet from the crossing and that
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25 | keeps sounding until the lead locomotive has crossed the
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26 | highway. The engineer or fireman may ring the bell or
sound |
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1 | the whistle or horn at a railroad crossing that has a
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2 | permanently installed audible warning device.
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3 | (b) Speed Limits.
Each rail carrier shall operate its | ||||||
4 | trains in compliance
with speed limits set by the | ||||||
5 | Commission. The Commission
may set train speed limits only | ||||||
6 | where such limits are
necessitated by extraordinary | ||||||
7 | circumstances effecting
the public safety, and shall | ||||||
8 | maintain such train speed
limits in effect only for such | ||||||
9 | time as the extraordinary
circumstances prevail.
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10 | The Commission and the Department of Transportation | ||||||
11 | shall conduct a study
of the relation between train speeds | ||||||
12 | and railroad-highway grade crossing
safety. The Commission | ||||||
13 | shall report the findings of the study to the General
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14 | Assembly no later than January 5, 1997.
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15 | (c) Special Speed Limit; Pilot Project. The Commission | ||||||
16 | and the
Board of the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional | ||||||
17 | Transportation Authority
shall conduct a pilot project in | ||||||
18 | the Village of
Fox River Grove, the site of the
fatal | ||||||
19 | school bus accident at a railroad crossing
on October 25, | ||||||
20 | 1995, in order to improve railroad crossing safety. For | ||||||
21 | this
project, the Commission is directed to set the maximum | ||||||
22 | train speed limit for
Regional Transportation Authority | ||||||
23 | trains at 50 miles per hour at intersections
on
that | ||||||
24 | portion of
the intrastate rail line located in the Village | ||||||
25 | of Fox River Grove.
If the Regional Transportation | ||||||
26 | Authority deliberately fails to comply with this
maximum |
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1 | speed
limit, then any entity, governmental or otherwise, | ||||||
2 | that provides capital or
operational funds to the Regional | ||||||
3 | Transportation
Authority shall appropriately reduce or | ||||||
4 | eliminate that funding.
The Commission shall report
to the | ||||||
5 | Governor and the General Assembly on the results of this | ||||||
6 | pilot
project in January
1999, January 2000, and January | ||||||
7 | 2001. The Commission shall also submit a final
report on | ||||||
8 | the pilot project to the Governor and the General Assembly | ||||||
9 | in January
2001. The provisions of this
subsection (c), | ||||||
10 | other than this sentence, are inoperative after February 1,
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11 | 2001.
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12 | (d) Freight Train Crew Size. No rail carrier shall | ||||||
13 | operate or cause to operate a train or light engine used in | ||||||
14 | connection with the movement of freight unless it has an | ||||||
15 | operating crew consisting of at least 2 individuals. The | ||||||
16 | minimum freight train crew size indicated in this | ||||||
17 | subsection (d) shall remain in effect until a federal law | ||||||
18 | or rule encompassing the subject matter has been adopted. | ||||||
19 | The Commission, with respect to freight train crew member | ||||||
20 | size under this subsection (d), has the power to conduct | ||||||
21 | evidentiary hearings, make findings, and issue and enforce | ||||||
22 | orders, including sanctions under Section 18c-1704 of this | ||||||
23 | Chapter. For the purposes of this subsection (d), the term | ||||||
24 | "train or light engine" does not include trains operated by | ||||||
25 | a hostler service or utility employees. | ||||||
26 | (3) Report and Investigation of Rail Accidents.
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1 | (a) Reports.
Every rail carrier shall report to the | ||||||
2 | Commission, by
the speediest means possible, whether | ||||||
3 | telephone,
telegraph, or otherwise, every accident | ||||||
4 | involving its
equipment, track, or other property which | ||||||
5 | resulted in
loss of life to any person. In addition, such | ||||||
6 | carriers
shall file a written report with the Commission.
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7 | Reports submitted under this paragraph shall be strictly
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8 | confidential, shall be specifically prohibited from
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9 | disclosure, and shall not be admissible in any
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10 | administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the
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11 | accidents reported.
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12 | (b) Investigations.
The Commission may investigate all | ||||||
13 | railroad accidents
reported to it or of which it acquires | ||||||
14 | knowledge
independent of reports made by rail carriers, and | ||||||
15 | shall
have the power, consistent with standards and
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16 | procedures established under the Federal Railroad Safety | ||||||
17 | Act, as amended, to
enter such
temporary orders as will | ||||||
18 | minimize the risk of future accidents pending notice,
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19 | hearing, and final action by the Commission.
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20 | (Source: P.A. 91-675, eff. 6-1-00; 92-284, eff. 8-9-01 .)
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