[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR240.127]

[Page 624]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
       CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF 
                             TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 240--QUALIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS--Table of Contents
 
       Subpart B--Component Elements of the Certification Process
 
Sec. 240.127  Criteria for examining skill performance.

    (a) Each railroad's program shall include criteria and procedures 
for implementing this section.
    (b) A railroad shall have procedures for examining the performance 
skills of a person being evaluated for qualification as a locomotive 
engineer in either train or locomotive service to determine whether the 
person has the skills to safely operate locomotives and/or trains, 
including the proper application of the railroad's rules and practices 
for the safe operation of locomotives or trains, in the most demanding 
class or type of service that the person will be permitted to perform.
    (c) The testing procedures selected by the railroad shall be:
    (1) Designed to examine a person's skills in safely operating 
locomotives or trains including the proper application of the railroad's 
rules and practices for the safe operation of locomotives or trains when 
performing the most demanding class or type of service that the person 
will be permitted to perform;
    (2) Conducted by a Designated Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers, 
who does not need to be qualified on the physical characteristics of the 
territory over which the test will be conducted;
    (3) Cover the following subjects during the test period
    (i) Operating practices;
    (ii) Equipment inspection practices;
    (iii) Train handling practices; and
    (iv) Compliance with Federal safety rules;
    (4) Be of sufficient length to effectively evaluate the person's 
ability to operate trains; and
    (5) Conducted when the person either
    (i) Is at the controls of the type of train normally operated on 
that railroad or segment of railroad and which this person might be 
permitted or required by the railroad to operate in the normal course of 
events after certification or
    (ii) Is at the controls of a Type I or Type II simulator programmed 
to replicate the responsive behavior of the type of train normally 
operated on that railroad or segment of railroad and which this person 
might be permitted or required by the railroad to operate in the normal 
course of events after certification.
    (d) The conduct of the test shall be documented in writing by the 
designated supervisor and the documentation shall contain:
    (1) The relevant facts concerning the train being operated;
    (2) The constraints applicable to its operation; and
    (3) The factors observed and relied on for evaluation purposes by 
the designated supervisor.

[56 FR 28254, June 19, 1991, as amended at 64 FR 60992, Nov. 8, 1999]