ROBERT LAUBY, the top career
safety officer at the Federal Rail-
road Administration, retired
April 13 as associate adminis-
trator for railroad safety. Lauby
joined FRA in 2005 as a senior
systems safety engineer after
leading the National Transpor-
tation Safety Board’s railroad
accident investigation program
for a decade. His career includ-
ed stints in locomotive mainte-
nance at Conrail; at a railroad
equipment company, Knorr
Brake; and as a consultant.
Trains spoke with Lauby about
advancements in rail safety —
and what remains to be done.How did attitudes toward
railroad safety change over
the course of your career?A There seems to be more so-
cial responsibility for safety thatwasn’t there before. Things that
were tolerated in the old days
— drinking, not getting your
rest, unsafe activities — I don’t
believe the working man is that
tolerant of those types of issues
anymore. In general, railroad
workers feel more responsibili-
ty for themselves and their
coworkers. Attitudes ... are in a
better place than they have
been for a long time.A safety culture is part of
the safety equation. The other
part is technology. What tech-
nological advances do you
think were the most important
in helping improve safety?A Well, you have to talk about
positive train control. PTC has
the ability to prevent many
serious accidents. We’re really
relying on PTC to provide abackup to the
engineer and
take the in-
dustry to the
next level of
safety. With
that said,
PTC doesn’t
cure all ills. It
is very effec-
tive in preventing accidents
involving train operations but
has no effect on other human-
factor accidents that occur in
yards, involve maintenance of
way, or other activities that
support train operations.The industry experienced a
couple of tragic runaway train
incidents in recent months
that took the lives of five rail-
roaders. One was on Sherman
Hill in Wyoming and one was
between the Spiral Tunnels inNews
Retired FRA safety official weighs in on electronic braking, PTC, and more
LOCOMOTIVE P. 1 6 • PASSENGER P. 1 8
THE TRAINS INTERVIEW
Robert Lauby
A Union Pacific unit train climbs
to La Fox, Ill. Rules requiring
electronic braking for some trains
were scrapped, but a former FRA
official touts the technology’s
advantages. TRAINS: David LassenRobert LaubyREAD THE LATEST RAIL NEWS. VISIT TRAINSMAG.COM TrainsMag.com 7