JOINT RESOLUTIONS

WHEREAS., Trains operating on a railroad track interrupt the
flow of ("shunt") an electrical current in the railroad track
thereby activating signal devices which alert railroad personnel
of the presence of cars on the track; and.

WHEREAS, Motorized railroad track equipment and rail mobile
vehicles used by Maintenance of Way forces to maintain the
railroad tracks are insulated in a manner that prevents them from
shunting the current and activating the railroad signal devices;
and

WHEREAS, Railroad personnel may not be adequately alerted
when Maintenance of Way motorized railroad track equipment
occupies the track; and

WHEREAS, There are no current federal regulations that
require Maintenance of Way motorized railroad track equipment and
rail mobile vehicles to activate the railroad signals which alert
railroad personnel of the presence of cars on the track; and

WHEREAS, The United States Secretary of Transportation has
the necessary powers to adopt regulations in the area of safety
on the railroad; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the State
of Maryland requests the United States Secretary of
Transportation to adopt the necessary regulations to require
Maintenance of Way motorized railroad track equipment and rail
mobile vehicles to activate the railroad signals which alert
railroad personnel of the presence of cars on the track; and be
it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be forwarded by the
Department of Legislative Reference to the Honorable William
Donald Schaefer, Governor of Maryland; the Honorable Thomas V.
Mike Miller, Jr., President of the Senate of Maryland; the
Honorable R. Clayton Mitchell, Speaker of the House of Delegates;
the Maryland Congressional Delegation: Senators Paul S. Sarbanes
and Barbara A. Mikulski, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
20510; and Representatives Royden P. Dyson, Helen Delich Bentley,
Benjamin L. Cardin, C. Thomas McMillen, Steny H. Hoyer, Beverly
B. Byron, Kweisi Mfume, and Constance A. Morella, House Office
Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; the Honorable Elizabeth Hanford
Dole, Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation,
400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590; and Domenick
DiFalco, Assistant Commissioner of Safety, Railroad Safety and
Health, Department of Labor and Industry, 501 St. Paul Place,
Baltimore, MD 21202.

Signed June 2, 1987.

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