OVERVIEW

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has developed a Toll-Free Emergency Notification System (ENS) software which enables the timely reporting of emergencies and problems at highway-rail intersections to centralized emergency response communications centers or railway dispatch centers. The software was developed in response to national legislation (Swift Rail Development Act of 1994) with the objectives of:

1. Improving highway-rail crossing safety by reducing the number of highway-rail crossing accidents and fatalities.
2. Providing the public a means to notify railroads and public safety officials of crossing emergencies and problems.
3. Improving crossing data and safety evaluation by permitting the creation of data bases that can be used for analyzing crossing problem malfunctions and emergencies.
4. Support requirements identified in the 1994 Rail-Highway Crossing Safety Action Plan.
5. Generating usable reports regarding highway-rail crossing malfunctions or problems.

The initial (1-800) ENS software was developed and deployed for the State of Texas, Department of Public Safety (DPS), Division of Emergency Management (DEM), where it is tested and used at the statewide emergency response communication center. In June 2001, the State moved responsibility for this program to the DPS, Special Police Operations.

The FRA is working in partnership with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to modify and improve the Texas ENS software so that it can be used in a 911 emergency communication center. Initially the system will support eight selected short-line railroads, but it has the capability for expansion to a statewide system.