Which Railroad Employees Are Covered by FRA Drug and Alcohol Rules?

FRA drug and alcohol rules in 49 CFR Part 219 apply to railroads and contractors to railroads. Exceptions include railroads that operate only inside an installation that is not part of the general railroad system (plant railroads), tourist, scenic, historic, or excursion operations not part of the general system, and rapid transit operations in an urban area not connected to the general system (49 CFR 219.3).

The rules cover regulated employees. A regulated employee is a covered employee, maintenance-of-way employee, or mechanical employee who performs regulated service for a railroad subject to Part 219 (49 CFR 219.5).

A covered employee is an employee, volunteer, or probationary employee of a railroad or contractor who performs covered service under the hours of service laws, or who is subject to performing it, whether or not the person is performing it now. For pre-employment testing, the term includes an applicant for covered service (49 CFR 219.5). Covered service is service as a train employee, a dispatching service employee, or a signal employee. Federal law defines a train employee as an individual engaged in or connected with the movement of a train, including a hostler, and a signal employee as an individual engaged in installing, repairing, or maintaining signal systems. A dispatching service employee includes an operator or train dispatcher who dispatches, reports, transmits, receives, or delivers orders affecting train movements (49 U.S.C. 21101).

A maintenance-of-way employee is a roadway worker. Roadway workers include employees of a railroad or contractor whose duties include inspection, construction, maintenance, or repair of track, bridges, roadway, signal and communication systems, electric traction systems, roadway facilities, or roadway maintenance machinery on or near track, plus flagmen and watchmen or lookouts (49 CFR 214.7). A mechanical employee performs mechanical tests or inspections on rolling equipment required by FRA rules, with exceptions for train crews inspecting their own train and for employees who only clean, supply, or service equipment (49 CFR 219.5). FRA added mechanical employees in a 2022 final rule (87 FR 5719).

A small railroad, with 15 or fewer employees covered by the hours of service laws and no joint operations except for interchange, is excepted from Subparts E, G, and K, which include random testing. Employees performing only maintenance-of-way or mechanical work do not count toward the 15 (49 CFR 219.3). Drug and alcohol testing under most Part 219 subparts, including reasonable suspicion, pre-employment, and random testing, follows the procedures in 49 CFR Part 40, while FRA post-accident toxicological testing under Subpart C follows FRA's own procedures (49 CFR 219.701).