Final Rule for 49 CFR Part 270 System Safety Program

Details

Objectives

• Learn and share information on the final rule for 49 CFR 270 – System Safety Program
• Understand the upcoming deadlines as well as responsibilities of a host, tenant and contractor

Moderator

Narayana Sundaram Sr. Director – Engineering and Commuter Rail Ops American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Washington, DC

Narayana Sundaram is APTA’s Senior Director of Standards, Engineering and Commuter Rail Operations. In this role Narayana manages many of APTA’s PRESS commuter and intercity rail standards working groups, manages the Commuter Rail Committee, and overall serves as APTA lead on engineering topics on the rail side of technical services. He also oversees the APTA standards program that develops, maintain standards and recommended practices for the public transportation industry.

Prior to joining APTA, he held several positions with ENSCO, a leading technology provider in the rail industry. He spent 13 years at ENSCO holding several positions last of which was Business Area Manager for the Vehicle/Track Interaction Consulting Services. Narayana holds a Masters of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from India.

Presenters

Michael D. Ramsey Passenger Railroad Safety Specialist Federal Railroad Administration Conifer, CO

Mike Ramsey is the one of a half dozen Passenger Rail Safety Specialists in the U.S. for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). He has over 40 years of experience in the transportation field. Mike is a senior specialist and assists with the oversight of the FRA 49 CFR Part 270 System Safety Program, and the FRA 49 CFR Part 238/239 Passenger Train Emergency Preparedness and Passenger Emergency Systems Programs. He also is available as an investigator for major passenger train accident survival factors, and works directly with new start railroads. He reviews and assists with the regions compliance with intercity, commuter, tourist and shared use transit railroad’s regulations at the Federal Railroad Administration.

Larry Day, Jr. CSP, SMS, NREMT Passenger Railroad Safety Specialist Federal Railroad Administration Academy, CA

Larry Day is a Passenger Railroad Safety Specialist with the Passenger Rail Division within the Office of Railroad Safety at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for over five years. Mr. Day’s primary responsibilities include a team that is responsible for implementing 49CFR Part 270 System Safety Program for commuter and inter-city passenger railroads throughout the United States.
Whenever there is a crash of significant importance Mr. Day is one of three FRA Forensic investigator in charge that lead a team of FRA and Volpe staff to understand the crashworthiness of rail equipment and survival factors of the occupants (both passenger and employees).

Prior to joining the FRA, Mr. Day was the Assistant Director, System Safety for Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink). Recruited after the devastating Chatsworth accident he was able to work with the University of Southern California to develop a rail system safety management course as well as develop methods to implement and how to measure positive safety culture. He taught management and line employees about SMS, Just Culture and Safety Culture. Mr. Day also revised the process for root cause investigations dealing with rule violations and accidents. He also had a couple of stints serving as Acting Director, Safety and Security.

In 2005, Mr. Day began working for Caltrain as a contractor with Transportation Resource Associates, Inc. (TRA). Primary duties were ensuring roadway worker safety along the right-of-way including construction safety. He was hired by the Caltrain joint powers administrative authority and promoted to the head of safety. Duties included oversight of the system safety program plan (SSPP) and working with APTA and FRA RSAC to begin development of the System Safety Program rule in 2006.

Mr. Day is a Certified Safety Professional and Safety Management Specialist with the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. In addition he is certified to teach system safety and derailment courses with the Transportation Safety Institute. He holds professional certificates with University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering in Aviation Safety and Security and System Safety.
To keep a better perspective of the consequences of unsafe acts and knowledge of survival factors, Mr. Day is a certified emergency medical technician and reserve firefighter with the Kingsburg Fire Department.